Conversations during the Last Supper

The workings

There has been much debate as to whether Judas was free to decide to betray Jesus Christ, or whether it was imposed on him by divine command that Christ had to be sacrificed. Especially since National Geographic published in 2006 the translation of a 4th century Coptic manuscript found at the end of the 20th century in Egypt. It contained what has come to be known as the Gospel of Judas. In it, Judas is described as Christ’s favourite disciple, and that is why he lent himself to hand it over to fulfil the foreseen plan designed by that mysterious Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), so abhorred and reviled by Isaac Newton, one of the giants of science, but also a great connoisseur of early Christendom (we remember the posts On the shoulders of giants and Mahematicians and other companions from hell). From the Canonical Gospels we know that some of the matter of betrayal was discussed at the Last Supper, although unfortunately the minor conversations that took place between the diners seated together at this famous meal have not been revealed. Nor have the details of who sat next to whom come to light; it is precisely this last detail that is the subject of this Divertimento which we have prepared especially for Holy Week.

The fun

A group of n people agree to have dinner together on different evenings. On each night they sit around a round table so that each person has different diners at different dinners on either side of them. If everyone wants to sit next to everyone else, how many evenings should they have dinner together?

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Solution

We encourage the readers to try to solve the divertimento for themselves. Whether you succeed or not, you can always consult the solution in this link.