Editing 2348: Boat Puzzle

{{comic
| number    = 2348
| date      = August 19, 2020
| title     = Boat Puzzle
| image     = boat_puzzle.png
| titletext = 'No, my cabbage moths have already started laying eggs in them! Send the trolley into the river!' 'No, the sailing wolf will steal the boat to rescue them!'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a twist on {{w|Wolf, goat and cabbage problem|an old riddle}}. In the original riddle, a person has to cross a river in a boat that can only hold them and one other object. They have a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage that they need to bring across with them, similar to the first panel. If the wolf is left alone with the goat, however, the wolf will eat the goat; and if the goat and cabbage are alone, the goat will eat the cabbage. (The problem can be solved in seven trips.)

However, the comic quickly devolves into surrealism in the later panels as new characters show up, bringing deviations of the original "cabbage", "goat", and "wolf" that add extra layers of complexity to the riddle. [[White Hat]] brings extra wolves and cabbages. [[Black Hat]], in his traditional [[72:_Classhole|classhole]] style, brings {{w|cabbage moth}}s which will infest unsupervised cabbages with destructive larvae, and boat-destroying {{w|termite}}s. How he intends to bring them across the river (or even if he wants to) is unknown, but it brings to mind the parable of {{w|The Scorpion and the Frog}}. [[Beret Guy]] arrives with a wolf who can operate a boat, who could perhaps serve as a second pilot to expedite the crossing, so long as he is not asked to ferry a goat, and also a goat who eats wolves, possibly in addition to the cabbages. This is unusual{{cn}}, as one would expect from Beret Guy's associates.

The last panel is a reference to the {{w|Trolley_Problem|Trolley Problem}}, a moral test that asks the participant whether they would passively let people in the way of an uncontrollable trolley die or actively divert the trolley to kill a single person standing on a branch of the tracks. The comic gives a twist here too: according to the title text, the characters must choose between stopping the trolley full of wolves with a cushion of cabbages (in which Black Hat's cabbage moths have laid eggs, which he implicitly argues are morally equivalent to "innocent children") or letting it crash into the river (at which point the wolf who can operate a boat will steal the boat to rescue the wolves from the trolley, which will delay the other characters from crossing the river).

The River Crossing puzzle was also mentioned in [[1134: Logic Boat]] and referenced in [[589: Designated Drivers]] and [[2684: Road Space Comparison]].

The Trolley Problem was also mentioned in [[1455: Trolley Problem]] and referenced in [[1938: Meltdown and Spectre]].

==Solving the problem==

Unlike typical Logic Boat problems the presence of multiple humans makes finding a solution almost trivial, however trying to determine the solution with the least number of trips could still make the somewhat challenging.  Because the set of constraints are both ambiguous and incomplete, it requires the reader to make assumptions that, in turn, will lead to different solutions. 

===Reasonable Assumptions===

The following assumptions can be made based on the setup of the problem or are necessary to avoid an unsolvable puzzle.

* '''Cueball is an observer.'''  He is set up as an observer there to solve the problem, not pilot the boat or "watch" the cargo.
* '''The boat can only hold two items.''' This is standard in logic boat problems.  Groups of insects count as one item.
* '''Black Hat and Beret Guy both want to cross the river with their cargo'''. Neither states that they wish to cross the river like Ponytail and White Hat, but it can be inferred from the setup of the scenario.
* '''The termites will destroy the boat ''after'' crossing.''' Otherwise the problem is unsolvable.  This is similar to the {{w|Poncelet–Steiner theorem}}, which shows that any compass-and-straightedge construction can be completed with a "rusty compass", so long as the compass works at least once.
* '''The wolf-eating goat also eats cabbage.''' The wolf-eating constraint adds to the goat's existing constraints. 
* '''The sailing wolf follows the command of an adjacent human.''' The alternatives require more assumptions for a solvable puzzle. 
* '''The sailing wolf returns the trolley wolves to the near shore.''' The trolley wolves show no indication of wanting to cross the river.
* '''Stopping the trolley destroys all the cabbages.''' Otherwise the event does not affect the logic puzzle. 
* '''The pack of wolves from the trolley will eat a human or wolf-eating goat left by themselves.''' Aligns with the spirit of the constraints. 
** '''A wolf can protect a human from a pack of wolves'''.  A human who is accompanied by one of the wolves who want to cross the river should not count as being "alone" for the purpose of getting eaten by the wolves from the trolley; otherwise, there is no way to get everyone across.

===The Trolley===

The trolley problem creates two versions of the puzzle, one where the cabbages are destroyed, the other where they are not and a wolf rescue takes place.  The ethical issues associated with the trolley problem are independent from the logic of how to cross the river.

===Solutions===

* General

With four humans involved, the first trip across can bring an extra human who then can guard the cargo as it is brought across in arbitrary order with care being taken not to have predator and prey alone together at the end.  The termites must be last cargo ferried across as they will destroy the boat.

* The Trolley is Stopped

The cabbages are destroyed. The second to last trip brings across the last human and the last trip brings across the termites. 

* The Trolley is not Stopped

A pack of wolves is now on the near bank.  The last human is brought across in the third to last trip, followed by the last wolf and lastly the termites.

===Missing Information===

No information is provided about whether or not the humans all get along with each other and this is left as a possible exercise for the reader given all of the characters' varying personality traits.  However the sailing wolf would likely come in handy if certain humans (ex Black Hat, Beret Guy) cannot be left alone.  It is also probable that certain characters might not serve in the capacity as a cargo guard. 

It is also unclear if humans can leave with their cargo once all the cargo has been brought across.  This could complicate matters if a far side "guard" leaves early.

==Transcript==
[Cueball and Ponytail are standing on the bank of a river. There is a boat in the river. A goat and wolf are also on the riverbank, and Ponytail is holding a cabbage.]

Ponytail: I need to cross the river. I have a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage.

Cueball: Hmm.

[White Hat appears, accompanied by two wolves and pulling a wagon full of cabbages.]

Cueball: OK, here's what-

White Hat: Hi, I also need to cross. I have two wolves and 100 cabbages.

[Black Hat arrives, surrounded by a cloud of flying creatures and carrying a jar of bugs under his arm. Beret Guy follows with another wolf and goat on leashes.]

Black Hat: I have 50 cabbage moths and 2,000 boat-destroying termites.

Beret Guy: I have a wolf that can operate a boat, and a goat that eats wolves.

[The fourth panel is a zoomed-out shot, where everything but the sky appears black.]

[A trolley speeds in, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. A person is standing on the front, and many ears are barely visible above the seats.]

Cueball: Hang on, I need to make a spreadsheet.

Trolley operator: Look out!

Trolley operator: My wolf-filled trolley is out of control and can only be stopped by a cushion of cabbages!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
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