This is a
solution to
problem 19 on the
hard interview questions node. If you have not read the
question, the
following will make no
sense to you:
You should take offer #1, because you can guarantee yourself an arbitrarily large amount of money, simply by using the following as your statement:
"I will receive neither $10 nor $1000."
If we assume the statement is true, this leads to a contradiction because you would receive $10, by the rules.
If we assume the statement is false, then to satisfy the falsity of the statement, you must receive either $10 or $1000. But since you cannot receive $10 if the statement is false, you must receive $1000.
Of course you can use any amount in place of "$1000."