The Problem
In the missionaries and cannibals problem, three missionaries and three cannibals must cross a river using a boat which can carry at most two people, under the constraint that, for both banks, if there are missionaries present on the bank, they cannot be outnumbered by cannibals (if they were, the cannibals would eat the missionaries.) The boat cannot cross the river by itself with no people on board.
In the jealous husbands problem, the missionaries and cannibals become three married couples, with the constraint that no woman can be in the presence of another man unless her husband is also present. Under this constraint, there cannot be both women and men present on a bank with women outnumbering men, since if there were, some woman would be husbandless. Therefore, upon changing men to missionaries and women to cannibals, any solution to the jealous husbands problem will also become a solution to the missionaries and cannibals problem.
Read more about this topic: Missionaries And Cannibals Problem
Famous quotes containing the word problem:
“The problem ... is emblematic of what hasn’t changed during the equal opportunity revolution of the last 20 years. Doors opened; opportunities evolved. Law, institutions, corporations moved forward. But many minds did not.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
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