life or death

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles, and 2 empty bowls. He then says, 'Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die.'

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?




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The great emperor Akbar once ruled India. He was well known for his intelligence. But along with that, he was known for the Nine Gems in his court. One of the nine gems was Birbal, a quick witted and extremely intelligent man. The stories of his wit were widely popular.

Once a king ruling in a distant land heard of Birbal. To check his wit, he sent an invitation and called him to visit his land. Akbar allowed Birbal to go and he took off on the journey.

Upon reaching that kings kingdom, he was welcomed with flowers. He was then escorted to the palace of the king. Upon entering the palace, Birbal found that there were six people sitting in front of him adorning the same robe. They were also lookalike and it was hard to judge who the real king was.

After a couple of minutes, Birbal approached one of them and bowed in front of him greeting him.

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One day, Birbal got late for a function and Akbar was highly disappointed.
Please forgive me Jahanpanah. I arrived late because my child was crying and I had to calm him down, explained Birbal.
Does it take this long to placate a child? questioned the emperor. I feel that you have no idea about how to raise a child. I order you to act like a child and I will act like your father to show you how you should have dealt with your child. Come on! Ask me all that he asked from you.
Father, I want a cow, said Birbal.
The emperor quickly ordered one of the servants to bring a cow to the kingdom.
I want to drink its milk, now, now, now! said Birbal, imitating the voice of his child.
Akbar asked his servants to milk the cow and give to Birbal.
The servants quickly milked the cow and offered the milk to Birbal. He sipped in a little and then gave the bowl to the emperor.
As Birbal put up the next demand that was put up by his child a few hours ago, the emperor was stunned and left the room.
What did Birbal say?

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There is a cryptic organization called Cicada 3301 that posts challenging puzzles online, possibly to recruit codebreakers and linguists.