(no subject)

[tamakun]

Okay, so you may have heard of the problem of how to cut a piece of cake for two people so that it's fair, right? The solution is that one cuts while the other chooses which piece he gets. Simple.

What happens when you have 3 people, though? I was musing this on the way home, and to be honest I can't think of a more simple answer than "one cuts, and the other two choose their pieces". is it really that simple, or is it unfair to someone?

Thoughts?

Comments

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Well, then comes the question of who chooses first.. I'll be pondering this X3

[nophoto.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on who of the two people not cutting may choose first, because the one who chooses first can have the piece of their choice (which is usually biggest). I don't know how to solve it though :) Flip a coin between the two who have to choose?

[kawaiiayu.livejournal.com]

yeah it would only be unfair to the person who chooses second.

its funny you bring this up. theres a peanut butter commercial where two brothers are fighting over who gets what half of the sandwhich the mom is making, so the mom employs that solution, one cuts, one chooses. And Jordan and I were watching this and hes like thats a good idea but what if theres three people. And I said well one cuts, one chooses, and one cuts SOMEONE else in half lol randomly... like the old tale in the bible or whatever

[scruloose.livejournal.com]

I think the solution works pretty well for more than 2 people. The strategy behind "one cuts and the other chooses" is that it makes you highly motivated to cut the pieces exactly the same size because you're getting the last pick. So if you're cutting more pieces, but the rule is that "he who cuts, gets last pick", you're still motivated to make the pieces even so that when there's only yours left it's no smaller than anybody else's.

Of course, it may be really damn hard to cut a blueberry pie (for example) into, say, seven exactly equal pieces, but the motivation is there.