[daryn]

this answer by CMangano seems to be perfect. the prisoners get together, and elect a foreman. say it's me. i tell everyone:

if you go in, and you see the switch on the left is in the down position, AND it's the first time you've entered and seen the left switch in the down position, then switch it up. if you go in and the left switch is in the up position, don't touch it, do whatever you want with the right switch and leave. and then i'm the counter, and every time i go in and see the left switch is up, i switch it down, and add 1 to my count (starting from zero). as soon as i get to 7, then we all definitely have come into the room. i say 7 to handle the situation where i come into the room first and the switch is in the up position. good solution by CMangano i think.. if anyone thinks this is less than perfect, i'd like to hear why. i just wanted to clarify it totally, mostly for myself, i'm not trying to take any credit whatsoever for this solution.