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#201 |
Agave Wine Connoisseur
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Just past ' Resume Speed ' .
Posts: 14,961
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" What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about? " Prove your computer is not a wimp ! Join Team 13232 ! |
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#202 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 38,875
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"As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose -- that it may violate property instead of protecting it -- then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder. Political questions will always be prejudicial, dominant, and all-absorbing. There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious." - Bastiat, The Law |
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#203 |
Grammar Resistance Leader
TLA Dictator Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Pattaya, Thailand
Posts: 37,728
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Hilited: Heading to China (where it's either yesterday or tomorrow depending on which direction and which starting point you use ) where they adopted his sister, who is stubbornly loyal to Chinese culture and thus counts her birthday from d.o.b. = 1. Yet another "ultimate" problem by the wayside. Sad. |
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Ha! Foolmewunz has just been added to the list of people who aren't complete idiots. Hokulele It's not that liberals have become less tolerant. It's that conservatives have become more intolerable. |
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#204 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#205 |
Show me the monkey!
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 19,701
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Bigfoot believers and Bigfoot skeptics are both plumb crazy. Each spends more than one minute per year thinking about Bigfoot. |
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#206 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 38,875
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"As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose -- that it may violate property instead of protecting it -- then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder. Political questions will always be prejudicial, dominant, and all-absorbing. There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious." - Bastiat, The Law |
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#207 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#208 |
Do you want to date my Avatar?
Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Florida
Posts: 24,981
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This remains among the worst attempts at logical thinking that I have ever witnessed.
Unstated assumptions come and go as pleases RBF. Precision comes in and out of focus as works for him. And none of it is in any way necessary, let alone correct, let alone anything other than exceptionally, gargantuanly, heart-stoppingly stupid. |
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I have the honor to be Your Obdt. St L. Leader |
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#209 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 26,094
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#210 |
Skeptic not Atheist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West of Northshore MA
Posts: 24,527
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Has the OP revealed his "correct" answer (along with reasoning)?
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"Remember that the goal of conspiracy rhetoric is to bog down the discussion, not to make progress toward a solution" Jay Windley "How many leaves on the seventh branch of the fourth tree?" is meaningless when you are in the wrong forest: ozeco41 |
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#211 |
a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: People's Democratic Republic of Planet X
Posts: 26,523
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Let's change the problem: For six pages so far, RBF engages in pedantic asshattery. How many more pages will it be before all other posters tire of participating in this complete waste of time?
This signature is intended to irrumate people. |
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"Shemp, you are the one fixed point in an ever-changing universe." - Beady "I don't want to live in a world without shemp." - Quarky Noel Gallagher isn't fit to lick the **** off the bottom of the shoes of Howard Devoto |
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#212 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Way way north of Diddy Wah Diddy
Posts: 22,348
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The problem states that the sister is half the brother's age. In common parlance, two is half of four. I don't see why we cannot include 13. It does not state that at all times when the brother was four the sister was half the age. It states that at some arbitrary moment when the brother was nominally 4, his sister was half the age, and if we assume nominal ages, she could have turned two after he turned four, thus allowing that at some other point when he was four she was either one or two. If you allow that the brother and sister have differing birthdays you must allow for the possibility that, though for some part of the brother's year 4, she was 2, she either became two after his fourth birthday, meaning that for some time when he was 4 she was 1, or that she became 2 before his fourth birthday, meaning that for some time before his 5th birthday, she turned 3. If you want a more precise answer the rules for reporting age must be specified at the start. The only unit of measurement mentioned in the problem is the age in years, and that means simply that at some arbitrary point during the year in which the brother could be said to be four years old, the sister was half as many years old, which is two. Other assumptions are gratuitous and (obviously) endlessly arguable.
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I love this world, but not for its answers. (Mary Oliver) Quand il dit "cuic" le moineau croit tout dire. (When he's tweeted the sparrow thinks he's said it all. (Jules Renard) |
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#213 |
Muse
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 793
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#214 |
Agave Wine Connoisseur
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Just past ' Resume Speed ' .
Posts: 14,961
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Oh yeah..
http://www.internationalskeptics.com...6&postcount=77 The reasoning is never really there.. |
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#215 |
Grammar Resistance Leader
TLA Dictator Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Pattaya, Thailand
Posts: 37,728
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Shouldn't this thread be moved to Puzzles, where we might find denizens who appreciate the fine art of turd-in-punchbowl solutions?
Seems that bothering these nice science and math geeks just gets their hackles up. |
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Ha! Foolmewunz has just been added to the list of people who aren't complete idiots. Hokulele It's not that liberals have become less tolerant. It's that conservatives have become more intolerable. |
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#216 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,776
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Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in Vain |
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#217 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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Mary is 24 yrs old. Mary is twice as old as Ana was when Mary was as old as Ana is now. How old is Ana?
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#218 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 26,094
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A suffusion of yellow.
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#219 |
Thinker
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 158
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The answer, unsurprisingly, falls into the category of "not wrong but".
If you make up enough of your own interpretations, assumptions, and definitions, you can come to any answer you want. And, again, it's not wrong, logically speaking. It's just utterly inane and draining for anyone making an honest effort to effectively communicate with you. ![]() |
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#220 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 38,875
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__________________
"As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose -- that it may violate property instead of protecting it -- then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder. Political questions will always be prejudicial, dominant, and all-absorbing. There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious." - Bastiat, The Law |
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#221 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#222 |
Mafia Penguin
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 18,534
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No funny games this time?
Variables: m: current age of Mary a: current age of Ana d: years difference between "then" and "now" Reformulation of the problem: (1) m = 24 (2) m = 2 * (a - d) (3) m - d = a Then equation (2) becomes: m = 2 * (a - d) = 2 * (m - 2 * d) And thus m = 4 * d d = 6 That makes with (3): a = 24 - 6 = 18 |
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Founder of the group "The Truth about Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu aka Mother Teresa" "I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people." - "Saint" Teresa, the lying thieving Albanian dwarf |
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#223 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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__________________
Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#224 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 26,094
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I've got one:
What weighs more, a box of feathers or a box of lead? Hint: |
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#225 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 10,311
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"... when people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together." Isaac Asimov |
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#226 |
Muse
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 788
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The spoiler doesn't help.
A question I've come across a few times is the following very easy question: A man goes into a shop and buys a baseball and a baseball bat. The total price comes to $10 and the bat costs $9 more than the ball. How much did the bat cost? I'm not surprised that lots of people give the same wrong answer (people tend to blurt out $9) because people tend to give out the first answer that comes into their head. What does surprise me is the amount of people who, after hearing the correct answer, can't understand why their answer is wrong and why the correct answer is correct. |
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#227 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#228 |
Hyperthetical
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 13,487
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A zømbie once bit my sister... |
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#229 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Way way north of Diddy Wah Diddy
Posts: 22,348
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That riddle is usually asked in the form of what the ball cost, rather than the bat, and though I do get the answer, I must say some of the explanations for it are so badly written that they leave you scratching your head, and perhaps some of the anger over the solution comes from the fact that the thing is explained so clumsily.
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I love this world, but not for its answers. (Mary Oliver) Quand il dit "cuic" le moineau croit tout dire. (When he's tweeted the sparrow thinks he's said it all. (Jules Renard) |
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#230 |
Agave Wine Connoisseur
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Just past ' Resume Speed ' .
Posts: 14,961
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$9.50
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#231 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 26,094
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Well, I didn't expect anyone to get the answer to my question, not even Red Baron Farms.
This signature is intended to irradiate people. |
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#232 |
Do you want to date my Avatar?
Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Florida
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#233 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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That is also a strawman..just a different way to put words in someones mouth they didn't say. In this case you used the format quote something you can't argue against, then use the "translate" function to manipulate what was said into a form you can argue against. Parcher used a slightly different technique to build a strawman.
As you can see it also involves purposely ignoring what was said and substituting a willfully ignorant strawman instead. Both techniques are rude, and weak. The last gasp from a weak mind that can't argue their cause directly as a few others here have done. So the question is this, why make nasty rude strawman arguments in the first place? Are you that needing of attention that you feel you must go stomping around in the mud? Because I have already conceded that because they count ages differently in China 13,14, & 15 are all possible and I missed that point originally. |
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#234 |
Do you want to date my Avatar?
Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Florida
Posts: 24,981
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Have you conceded that they might count ages differently a thousand years from now or that one sibling might have traveled to Alpha Centauri and back at .8c? Have you conceded that the one person might be counting in Martian years and the other in earth years? There are infinite unstated premises which you have rejected for reasons known best to yourself. The most logical thing to do - accept the question as a purely and precisely worded mathematics puzzle - is the only thing you won't do. And that is what makes this entire enterprise very, very stupid. |
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#235 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#236 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,085
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16+9=1, 8+6=2, 16+13=5, 7+7=x. What is x?
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Scott "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison Biome Carbon Cycle Management |
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#237 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
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#238 |
Do you want to date my Avatar?
Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006
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#239 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 38,875
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"As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose -- that it may violate property instead of protecting it -- then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder. Political questions will always be prejudicial, dominant, and all-absorbing. There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious." - Bastiat, The Law |
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#240 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 26,094
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