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Is there such thing as a “one-person†door?
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Imagine an evil dictator. He imprisons his enemies in a labor camp, but they never do any work! He doesn't want to torture them, or force them to do that since he is using all of his soldiers to build him a beautiful castle. Instead, he decides to create an incentive: every time you do a certain task (such as carrying 500 stones a total of one mile), you get a coin from an automated machine. If you get some huge number of coins, you earn freedom!
The only problem is that he needs a door to release exactly one. He can't afford to send a soldier to guard the door, so he needs a door that will allow exactly one person to go through when a token is deposited into a coin slot. This is going to be based off of medieval-style technology, so no complex scanners or anything electronic.
I have thought of:
A revolving door (But two people could both fit in)
A weight based door (Two thin or young people could get out)
A scanner which would check for people (Too high tech)
I've wondered about this for a while, just out of interest,
science-based medieval
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Imagine an evil dictator. He imprisons his enemies in a labor camp, but they never do any work! He doesn't want to torture them, or force them to do that since he is using all of his soldiers to build him a beautiful castle. Instead, he decides to create an incentive: every time you do a certain task (such as carrying 500 stones a total of one mile), you get a coin from an automated machine. If you get some huge number of coins, you earn freedom!
The only problem is that he needs a door to release exactly one. He can't afford to send a soldier to guard the door, so he needs a door that will allow exactly one person to go through when a token is deposited into a coin slot. This is going to be based off of medieval-style technology, so no complex scanners or anything electronic.
I have thought of:
A revolving door (But two people could both fit in)
A weight based door (Two thin or young people could get out)
A scanner which would check for people (Too high tech)
I've wondered about this for a while, just out of interest,
science-based medieval
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
How do you go from "A huge number of coins" to "a token?" And I think you'll find verifying that token is more demanding than making sure there's just one person.
– Cort Ammon
1 hour ago
@CortAmmon That's outside the scope of the question (Assume the evil dictator knows a very good inventor who made a device with springs to check for a certain marking on a coin)
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
Why do you have expensive soldiers working on a castle when you could be using cheap prison labor - or just taxing it from your peasants in a corvee system? That would leave you plenty of soldiers to guard the door.
– Cadence
1 hour ago
@Cadence The soldiers are needed to protect the castle while the slaves do the work
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
It's called a 'turnstile'
– Richard
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Imagine an evil dictator. He imprisons his enemies in a labor camp, but they never do any work! He doesn't want to torture them, or force them to do that since he is using all of his soldiers to build him a beautiful castle. Instead, he decides to create an incentive: every time you do a certain task (such as carrying 500 stones a total of one mile), you get a coin from an automated machine. If you get some huge number of coins, you earn freedom!
The only problem is that he needs a door to release exactly one. He can't afford to send a soldier to guard the door, so he needs a door that will allow exactly one person to go through when a token is deposited into a coin slot. This is going to be based off of medieval-style technology, so no complex scanners or anything electronic.
I have thought of:
A revolving door (But two people could both fit in)
A weight based door (Two thin or young people could get out)
A scanner which would check for people (Too high tech)
I've wondered about this for a while, just out of interest,
science-based medieval
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
Imagine an evil dictator. He imprisons his enemies in a labor camp, but they never do any work! He doesn't want to torture them, or force them to do that since he is using all of his soldiers to build him a beautiful castle. Instead, he decides to create an incentive: every time you do a certain task (such as carrying 500 stones a total of one mile), you get a coin from an automated machine. If you get some huge number of coins, you earn freedom!
The only problem is that he needs a door to release exactly one. He can't afford to send a soldier to guard the door, so he needs a door that will allow exactly one person to go through when a token is deposited into a coin slot. This is going to be based off of medieval-style technology, so no complex scanners or anything electronic.
I have thought of:
A revolving door (But two people could both fit in)
A weight based door (Two thin or young people could get out)
A scanner which would check for people (Too high tech)
I've wondered about this for a while, just out of interest,
science-based medieval
science-based medieval
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
asked 2 hours ago
Redwolf Programs
334212
334212
How do you go from "A huge number of coins" to "a token?" And I think you'll find verifying that token is more demanding than making sure there's just one person.
– Cort Ammon
1 hour ago
@CortAmmon That's outside the scope of the question (Assume the evil dictator knows a very good inventor who made a device with springs to check for a certain marking on a coin)
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
Why do you have expensive soldiers working on a castle when you could be using cheap prison labor - or just taxing it from your peasants in a corvee system? That would leave you plenty of soldiers to guard the door.
– Cadence
1 hour ago
@Cadence The soldiers are needed to protect the castle while the slaves do the work
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
It's called a 'turnstile'
– Richard
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
How do you go from "A huge number of coins" to "a token?" And I think you'll find verifying that token is more demanding than making sure there's just one person.
– Cort Ammon
1 hour ago
@CortAmmon That's outside the scope of the question (Assume the evil dictator knows a very good inventor who made a device with springs to check for a certain marking on a coin)
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
Why do you have expensive soldiers working on a castle when you could be using cheap prison labor - or just taxing it from your peasants in a corvee system? That would leave you plenty of soldiers to guard the door.
– Cadence
1 hour ago
@Cadence The soldiers are needed to protect the castle while the slaves do the work
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
It's called a 'turnstile'
– Richard
1 hour ago
How do you go from "A huge number of coins" to "a token?" And I think you'll find verifying that token is more demanding than making sure there's just one person.
– Cort Ammon
1 hour ago
How do you go from "A huge number of coins" to "a token?" And I think you'll find verifying that token is more demanding than making sure there's just one person.
– Cort Ammon
1 hour ago
@CortAmmon That's outside the scope of the question (Assume the evil dictator knows a very good inventor who made a device with springs to check for a certain marking on a coin)
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
@CortAmmon That's outside the scope of the question (Assume the evil dictator knows a very good inventor who made a device with springs to check for a certain marking on a coin)
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
Why do you have expensive soldiers working on a castle when you could be using cheap prison labor - or just taxing it from your peasants in a corvee system? That would leave you plenty of soldiers to guard the door.
– Cadence
1 hour ago
Why do you have expensive soldiers working on a castle when you could be using cheap prison labor - or just taxing it from your peasants in a corvee system? That would leave you plenty of soldiers to guard the door.
– Cadence
1 hour ago
@Cadence The soldiers are needed to protect the castle while the slaves do the work
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
@Cadence The soldiers are needed to protect the castle while the slaves do the work
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
It's called a 'turnstile'
– Richard
1 hour ago
It's called a 'turnstile'
– Richard
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 2 more comments
5 Answers
5
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oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
A particularly tight turnstile is the one person door you're looking for.
The coin verification system is pretty much the only thing that would be difficult for medieval technology, everything else is fairly simple: secure sections that can fit one person at a time, and gears that allow only enough rotation for one person to go through when the coin is inserted.
If it's good enough for amusement parks, it's good enough for prison.
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
While this is a weird set-up, a single person "door" is possible.
Imagine a see-saw filling a hallway. The pivot point is on the middle of the hall, and looking at it from the starting point it appears to be a ramp. You walk up the ramp for a bit, and then it starts to level off. Walk past the pivot and it descends to ground level, and you walk out the exit.
If your buddy tries to run on the ramp behind you, the combined weight keeps the ramp locked in the "up" position. Once you are off the ramp, it can either be reset by a flunky, or the ramp is weighted enough on the "entry" end to swing back to the "up" position. The technology isn't difficult, an inverted roof truss arrangement works, much like this car ramp system:
One end is down to make a ramp, and in this case the other end is braced so the car remains level once the car rolls forward enough to tilt the ramp. Remove the brace and the car can roll forward and off
A different variation of the same idea
A few refinements could be to have the entry behind a door or right angle so only one person at a time can actually approach the ramp. So there is a potential one way door without too much high tech.
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
A revolving or sliding door with a human-shaped "mold" will do the trick.
A problem with traditional turnstiles is that two people can easily squeeze into the space. If you just make this space smaller, bigger people will not be able to pass through.
This problem can be somehow mitigated is a passing person would have to fit into a "mold" that is designed to fit one large human. It is much more difficult to pack two smaller humans into a seemingly sufficient volume if this volume is SHAPED.
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I think you may have over-constrained your poor evil dictator. A dictator who runs a labor camp without a single guard or employee in the camp is in a really strained position. Usually labor camps have dozens or even hundreds of employees, because you generally want to have an eye on these dangerous individuals. That's actually the point of labor camps. It's a way to keep your eye on people that you don't want to kill immediately.
As such, I don't think the dictator really need to have this precision. He doesn't need to worry so much if one or two people get out.
He doesn't have to worry because he makes the door as a revolving door. No windows like you'd see on a hotel revolving door. Just a solid blank wall that rotates. He puts a ratchet on the door to make sure it only revolves in one direction.
If you've seen the hotel revolving doors, there's a period where you can't go in and you cant go out. This is important because the purpose of these revolving doors is to keep air from rushing in from the outside, causing the hotel heater or air conditioner to work very hard.
Well, once you reach that point, you realize that the door is opening over a spike pit that will seal your doom. There was no freedom. This is an evil dictator, not an honorable master. If you try to stop and wait, so you don't fall into the pit, your friend who's behind you with his token will try to rotate the door and push you in.
As such, given the dictator can't even spare a single person to watch over this labor camp, I don't think he'll mind if 2 people die instead of 1. He clearly doesn't care all that much.
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Ignoring that the dictator really can afford one person to guard the door, and might want to have some sort of celebration when somebody actually gets out and require them to wait for the celebration....
Your original problem was that sometimes one person is as big as two others, or as heavy as two others, etc. So most of the ways you could measure whether it's one person or two would fail in the extreme case.
The easiest thing is to just ignore the problem. Occasionally let two tiny people get out in place of one. Or a great big person can't get out and let him complain about that.
But failing that, with medieval technology, have the exit through a moat, a water-filled corridor. Above There's an air gap at the top that a person can breathe through. To get out, he puts his neck in a stock that leaves his head in air and the rest of his body in the water. The only thing that can stick into the air is his head. Anybody who tries to swim through gets no air, and anybody who tries to crawl through the air space finds a hole at the end just big enough for a head. Two people, no matter how small, cannot fit both their necks in the stock. Arrange that it takes long enough to get through that somebody who tried to hold their breath and swim through the bottom must drown.
I think this could be done with medieval technology. The device to make it take a long time to get through might be tricky.
Would it work? Probably not. People are tricky, and if you leve them unsupervised they will think of something. A snorkel that can stick through the stock past somebody's neck. Etc.
If you make any part of it out of wood, people will find a way to saw it, cut it, or burn it. If it's metal bolted together, they will find a way to get pliers or wrenches. If the water is above the water table, they will find a way to siphon it out.
Anything one engineer can make, another engineer can unmake given sufficient unsupervised time. But it's fun to try to think of ways.
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
A particularly tight turnstile is the one person door you're looking for.
The coin verification system is pretty much the only thing that would be difficult for medieval technology, everything else is fairly simple: secure sections that can fit one person at a time, and gears that allow only enough rotation for one person to go through when the coin is inserted.
If it's good enough for amusement parks, it's good enough for prison.
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
A particularly tight turnstile is the one person door you're looking for.
The coin verification system is pretty much the only thing that would be difficult for medieval technology, everything else is fairly simple: secure sections that can fit one person at a time, and gears that allow only enough rotation for one person to go through when the coin is inserted.
If it's good enough for amusement parks, it's good enough for prison.
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
A particularly tight turnstile is the one person door you're looking for.
The coin verification system is pretty much the only thing that would be difficult for medieval technology, everything else is fairly simple: secure sections that can fit one person at a time, and gears that allow only enough rotation for one person to go through when the coin is inserted.
If it's good enough for amusement parks, it's good enough for prison.
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
A particularly tight turnstile is the one person door you're looking for.
The coin verification system is pretty much the only thing that would be difficult for medieval technology, everything else is fairly simple: secure sections that can fit one person at a time, and gears that allow only enough rotation for one person to go through when the coin is inserted.
If it's good enough for amusement parks, it's good enough for prison.
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
answered 1 hour ago
Giter
9,77842231
9,77842231
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
While this is a weird set-up, a single person "door" is possible.
Imagine a see-saw filling a hallway. The pivot point is on the middle of the hall, and looking at it from the starting point it appears to be a ramp. You walk up the ramp for a bit, and then it starts to level off. Walk past the pivot and it descends to ground level, and you walk out the exit.
If your buddy tries to run on the ramp behind you, the combined weight keeps the ramp locked in the "up" position. Once you are off the ramp, it can either be reset by a flunky, or the ramp is weighted enough on the "entry" end to swing back to the "up" position. The technology isn't difficult, an inverted roof truss arrangement works, much like this car ramp system:
One end is down to make a ramp, and in this case the other end is braced so the car remains level once the car rolls forward enough to tilt the ramp. Remove the brace and the car can roll forward and off
A different variation of the same idea
A few refinements could be to have the entry behind a door or right angle so only one person at a time can actually approach the ramp. So there is a potential one way door without too much high tech.
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
While this is a weird set-up, a single person "door" is possible.
Imagine a see-saw filling a hallway. The pivot point is on the middle of the hall, and looking at it from the starting point it appears to be a ramp. You walk up the ramp for a bit, and then it starts to level off. Walk past the pivot and it descends to ground level, and you walk out the exit.
If your buddy tries to run on the ramp behind you, the combined weight keeps the ramp locked in the "up" position. Once you are off the ramp, it can either be reset by a flunky, or the ramp is weighted enough on the "entry" end to swing back to the "up" position. The technology isn't difficult, an inverted roof truss arrangement works, much like this car ramp system:
One end is down to make a ramp, and in this case the other end is braced so the car remains level once the car rolls forward enough to tilt the ramp. Remove the brace and the car can roll forward and off
A different variation of the same idea
A few refinements could be to have the entry behind a door or right angle so only one person at a time can actually approach the ramp. So there is a potential one way door without too much high tech.
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
While this is a weird set-up, a single person "door" is possible.
Imagine a see-saw filling a hallway. The pivot point is on the middle of the hall, and looking at it from the starting point it appears to be a ramp. You walk up the ramp for a bit, and then it starts to level off. Walk past the pivot and it descends to ground level, and you walk out the exit.
If your buddy tries to run on the ramp behind you, the combined weight keeps the ramp locked in the "up" position. Once you are off the ramp, it can either be reset by a flunky, or the ramp is weighted enough on the "entry" end to swing back to the "up" position. The technology isn't difficult, an inverted roof truss arrangement works, much like this car ramp system:
One end is down to make a ramp, and in this case the other end is braced so the car remains level once the car rolls forward enough to tilt the ramp. Remove the brace and the car can roll forward and off
A different variation of the same idea
A few refinements could be to have the entry behind a door or right angle so only one person at a time can actually approach the ramp. So there is a potential one way door without too much high tech.
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
While this is a weird set-up, a single person "door" is possible.
Imagine a see-saw filling a hallway. The pivot point is on the middle of the hall, and looking at it from the starting point it appears to be a ramp. You walk up the ramp for a bit, and then it starts to level off. Walk past the pivot and it descends to ground level, and you walk out the exit.
If your buddy tries to run on the ramp behind you, the combined weight keeps the ramp locked in the "up" position. Once you are off the ramp, it can either be reset by a flunky, or the ramp is weighted enough on the "entry" end to swing back to the "up" position. The technology isn't difficult, an inverted roof truss arrangement works, much like this car ramp system:
One end is down to make a ramp, and in this case the other end is braced so the car remains level once the car rolls forward enough to tilt the ramp. Remove the brace and the car can roll forward and off
A different variation of the same idea
A few refinements could be to have the entry behind a door or right angle so only one person at a time can actually approach the ramp. So there is a potential one way door without too much high tech.
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
edited 49 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
answered 1 hour ago
Thucydides
78.2k676230
78.2k676230
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
Definitely possible with medieval tech, and seems like it would work well!
– Redwolf Programs
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
A revolving or sliding door with a human-shaped "mold" will do the trick.
A problem with traditional turnstiles is that two people can easily squeeze into the space. If you just make this space smaller, bigger people will not be able to pass through.
This problem can be somehow mitigated is a passing person would have to fit into a "mold" that is designed to fit one large human. It is much more difficult to pack two smaller humans into a seemingly sufficient volume if this volume is SHAPED.
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
A revolving or sliding door with a human-shaped "mold" will do the trick.
A problem with traditional turnstiles is that two people can easily squeeze into the space. If you just make this space smaller, bigger people will not be able to pass through.
This problem can be somehow mitigated is a passing person would have to fit into a "mold" that is designed to fit one large human. It is much more difficult to pack two smaller humans into a seemingly sufficient volume if this volume is SHAPED.
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
A revolving or sliding door with a human-shaped "mold" will do the trick.
A problem with traditional turnstiles is that two people can easily squeeze into the space. If you just make this space smaller, bigger people will not be able to pass through.
This problem can be somehow mitigated is a passing person would have to fit into a "mold" that is designed to fit one large human. It is much more difficult to pack two smaller humans into a seemingly sufficient volume if this volume is SHAPED.
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
A revolving or sliding door with a human-shaped "mold" will do the trick.
A problem with traditional turnstiles is that two people can easily squeeze into the space. If you just make this space smaller, bigger people will not be able to pass through.
This problem can be somehow mitigated is a passing person would have to fit into a "mold" that is designed to fit one large human. It is much more difficult to pack two smaller humans into a seemingly sufficient volume if this volume is SHAPED.
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
answered 1 hour ago
Alexander
16.2k42864
16.2k42864
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
I like this idea!
– Redwolf Programs
18 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I think you may have over-constrained your poor evil dictator. A dictator who runs a labor camp without a single guard or employee in the camp is in a really strained position. Usually labor camps have dozens or even hundreds of employees, because you generally want to have an eye on these dangerous individuals. That's actually the point of labor camps. It's a way to keep your eye on people that you don't want to kill immediately.
As such, I don't think the dictator really need to have this precision. He doesn't need to worry so much if one or two people get out.
He doesn't have to worry because he makes the door as a revolving door. No windows like you'd see on a hotel revolving door. Just a solid blank wall that rotates. He puts a ratchet on the door to make sure it only revolves in one direction.
If you've seen the hotel revolving doors, there's a period where you can't go in and you cant go out. This is important because the purpose of these revolving doors is to keep air from rushing in from the outside, causing the hotel heater or air conditioner to work very hard.
Well, once you reach that point, you realize that the door is opening over a spike pit that will seal your doom. There was no freedom. This is an evil dictator, not an honorable master. If you try to stop and wait, so you don't fall into the pit, your friend who's behind you with his token will try to rotate the door and push you in.
As such, given the dictator can't even spare a single person to watch over this labor camp, I don't think he'll mind if 2 people die instead of 1. He clearly doesn't care all that much.
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I think you may have over-constrained your poor evil dictator. A dictator who runs a labor camp without a single guard or employee in the camp is in a really strained position. Usually labor camps have dozens or even hundreds of employees, because you generally want to have an eye on these dangerous individuals. That's actually the point of labor camps. It's a way to keep your eye on people that you don't want to kill immediately.
As such, I don't think the dictator really need to have this precision. He doesn't need to worry so much if one or two people get out.
He doesn't have to worry because he makes the door as a revolving door. No windows like you'd see on a hotel revolving door. Just a solid blank wall that rotates. He puts a ratchet on the door to make sure it only revolves in one direction.
If you've seen the hotel revolving doors, there's a period where you can't go in and you cant go out. This is important because the purpose of these revolving doors is to keep air from rushing in from the outside, causing the hotel heater or air conditioner to work very hard.
Well, once you reach that point, you realize that the door is opening over a spike pit that will seal your doom. There was no freedom. This is an evil dictator, not an honorable master. If you try to stop and wait, so you don't fall into the pit, your friend who's behind you with his token will try to rotate the door and push you in.
As such, given the dictator can't even spare a single person to watch over this labor camp, I don't think he'll mind if 2 people die instead of 1. He clearly doesn't care all that much.
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
I think you may have over-constrained your poor evil dictator. A dictator who runs a labor camp without a single guard or employee in the camp is in a really strained position. Usually labor camps have dozens or even hundreds of employees, because you generally want to have an eye on these dangerous individuals. That's actually the point of labor camps. It's a way to keep your eye on people that you don't want to kill immediately.
As such, I don't think the dictator really need to have this precision. He doesn't need to worry so much if one or two people get out.
He doesn't have to worry because he makes the door as a revolving door. No windows like you'd see on a hotel revolving door. Just a solid blank wall that rotates. He puts a ratchet on the door to make sure it only revolves in one direction.
If you've seen the hotel revolving doors, there's a period where you can't go in and you cant go out. This is important because the purpose of these revolving doors is to keep air from rushing in from the outside, causing the hotel heater or air conditioner to work very hard.
Well, once you reach that point, you realize that the door is opening over a spike pit that will seal your doom. There was no freedom. This is an evil dictator, not an honorable master. If you try to stop and wait, so you don't fall into the pit, your friend who's behind you with his token will try to rotate the door and push you in.
As such, given the dictator can't even spare a single person to watch over this labor camp, I don't think he'll mind if 2 people die instead of 1. He clearly doesn't care all that much.
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
I think you may have over-constrained your poor evil dictator. A dictator who runs a labor camp without a single guard or employee in the camp is in a really strained position. Usually labor camps have dozens or even hundreds of employees, because you generally want to have an eye on these dangerous individuals. That's actually the point of labor camps. It's a way to keep your eye on people that you don't want to kill immediately.
As such, I don't think the dictator really need to have this precision. He doesn't need to worry so much if one or two people get out.
He doesn't have to worry because he makes the door as a revolving door. No windows like you'd see on a hotel revolving door. Just a solid blank wall that rotates. He puts a ratchet on the door to make sure it only revolves in one direction.
If you've seen the hotel revolving doors, there's a period where you can't go in and you cant go out. This is important because the purpose of these revolving doors is to keep air from rushing in from the outside, causing the hotel heater or air conditioner to work very hard.
Well, once you reach that point, you realize that the door is opening over a spike pit that will seal your doom. There was no freedom. This is an evil dictator, not an honorable master. If you try to stop and wait, so you don't fall into the pit, your friend who's behind you with his token will try to rotate the door and push you in.
As such, given the dictator can't even spare a single person to watch over this labor camp, I don't think he'll mind if 2 people die instead of 1. He clearly doesn't care all that much.
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
answered 1 hour ago
Cort Ammon
101k15177359
101k15177359
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Ignoring that the dictator really can afford one person to guard the door, and might want to have some sort of celebration when somebody actually gets out and require them to wait for the celebration....
Your original problem was that sometimes one person is as big as two others, or as heavy as two others, etc. So most of the ways you could measure whether it's one person or two would fail in the extreme case.
The easiest thing is to just ignore the problem. Occasionally let two tiny people get out in place of one. Or a great big person can't get out and let him complain about that.
But failing that, with medieval technology, have the exit through a moat, a water-filled corridor. Above There's an air gap at the top that a person can breathe through. To get out, he puts his neck in a stock that leaves his head in air and the rest of his body in the water. The only thing that can stick into the air is his head. Anybody who tries to swim through gets no air, and anybody who tries to crawl through the air space finds a hole at the end just big enough for a head. Two people, no matter how small, cannot fit both their necks in the stock. Arrange that it takes long enough to get through that somebody who tried to hold their breath and swim through the bottom must drown.
I think this could be done with medieval technology. The device to make it take a long time to get through might be tricky.
Would it work? Probably not. People are tricky, and if you leve them unsupervised they will think of something. A snorkel that can stick through the stock past somebody's neck. Etc.
If you make any part of it out of wood, people will find a way to saw it, cut it, or burn it. If it's metal bolted together, they will find a way to get pliers or wrenches. If the water is above the water table, they will find a way to siphon it out.
Anything one engineer can make, another engineer can unmake given sufficient unsupervised time. But it's fun to try to think of ways.
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Ignoring that the dictator really can afford one person to guard the door, and might want to have some sort of celebration when somebody actually gets out and require them to wait for the celebration....
Your original problem was that sometimes one person is as big as two others, or as heavy as two others, etc. So most of the ways you could measure whether it's one person or two would fail in the extreme case.
The easiest thing is to just ignore the problem. Occasionally let two tiny people get out in place of one. Or a great big person can't get out and let him complain about that.
But failing that, with medieval technology, have the exit through a moat, a water-filled corridor. Above There's an air gap at the top that a person can breathe through. To get out, he puts his neck in a stock that leaves his head in air and the rest of his body in the water. The only thing that can stick into the air is his head. Anybody who tries to swim through gets no air, and anybody who tries to crawl through the air space finds a hole at the end just big enough for a head. Two people, no matter how small, cannot fit both their necks in the stock. Arrange that it takes long enough to get through that somebody who tried to hold their breath and swim through the bottom must drown.
I think this could be done with medieval technology. The device to make it take a long time to get through might be tricky.
Would it work? Probably not. People are tricky, and if you leve them unsupervised they will think of something. A snorkel that can stick through the stock past somebody's neck. Etc.
If you make any part of it out of wood, people will find a way to saw it, cut it, or burn it. If it's metal bolted together, they will find a way to get pliers or wrenches. If the water is above the water table, they will find a way to siphon it out.
Anything one engineer can make, another engineer can unmake given sufficient unsupervised time. But it's fun to try to think of ways.
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Ignoring that the dictator really can afford one person to guard the door, and might want to have some sort of celebration when somebody actually gets out and require them to wait for the celebration....
Your original problem was that sometimes one person is as big as two others, or as heavy as two others, etc. So most of the ways you could measure whether it's one person or two would fail in the extreme case.
The easiest thing is to just ignore the problem. Occasionally let two tiny people get out in place of one. Or a great big person can't get out and let him complain about that.
But failing that, with medieval technology, have the exit through a moat, a water-filled corridor. Above There's an air gap at the top that a person can breathe through. To get out, he puts his neck in a stock that leaves his head in air and the rest of his body in the water. The only thing that can stick into the air is his head. Anybody who tries to swim through gets no air, and anybody who tries to crawl through the air space finds a hole at the end just big enough for a head. Two people, no matter how small, cannot fit both their necks in the stock. Arrange that it takes long enough to get through that somebody who tried to hold their breath and swim through the bottom must drown.
I think this could be done with medieval technology. The device to make it take a long time to get through might be tricky.
Would it work? Probably not. People are tricky, and if you leve them unsupervised they will think of something. A snorkel that can stick through the stock past somebody's neck. Etc.
If you make any part of it out of wood, people will find a way to saw it, cut it, or burn it. If it's metal bolted together, they will find a way to get pliers or wrenches. If the water is above the water table, they will find a way to siphon it out.
Anything one engineer can make, another engineer can unmake given sufficient unsupervised time. But it's fun to try to think of ways.
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
Ignoring that the dictator really can afford one person to guard the door, and might want to have some sort of celebration when somebody actually gets out and require them to wait for the celebration....
Your original problem was that sometimes one person is as big as two others, or as heavy as two others, etc. So most of the ways you could measure whether it's one person or two would fail in the extreme case.
The easiest thing is to just ignore the problem. Occasionally let two tiny people get out in place of one. Or a great big person can't get out and let him complain about that.
But failing that, with medieval technology, have the exit through a moat, a water-filled corridor. Above There's an air gap at the top that a person can breathe through. To get out, he puts his neck in a stock that leaves his head in air and the rest of his body in the water. The only thing that can stick into the air is his head. Anybody who tries to swim through gets no air, and anybody who tries to crawl through the air space finds a hole at the end just big enough for a head. Two people, no matter how small, cannot fit both their necks in the stock. Arrange that it takes long enough to get through that somebody who tried to hold their breath and swim through the bottom must drown.
I think this could be done with medieval technology. The device to make it take a long time to get through might be tricky.
Would it work? Probably not. People are tricky, and if you leve them unsupervised they will think of something. A snorkel that can stick through the stock past somebody's neck. Etc.
If you make any part of it out of wood, people will find a way to saw it, cut it, or burn it. If it's metal bolted together, they will find a way to get pliers or wrenches. If the water is above the water table, they will find a way to siphon it out.
Anything one engineer can make, another engineer can unmake given sufficient unsupervised time. But it's fun to try to think of ways.
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
answered 4 mins ago
J Thomas
8917
8917
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How do you go from "A huge number of coins" to "a token?" And I think you'll find verifying that token is more demanding than making sure there's just one person.
– Cort Ammon
1 hour ago
@CortAmmon That's outside the scope of the question (Assume the evil dictator knows a very good inventor who made a device with springs to check for a certain marking on a coin)
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
Why do you have expensive soldiers working on a castle when you could be using cheap prison labor - or just taxing it from your peasants in a corvee system? That would leave you plenty of soldiers to guard the door.
– Cadence
1 hour ago
@Cadence The soldiers are needed to protect the castle while the slaves do the work
– Redwolf Programs
1 hour ago
It's called a 'turnstile'
– Richard
1 hour ago