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Ultimate math trick question?

Red Baron Farms said:
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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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
 
:thumbsup:
ddt said:
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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theprestige said:
I've got one:

What weighs more, a box of feathers or a box of lead?

Hint:
The box of lead is bigger than the box of feathers.
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The box of feathers, because yo momma is sitting on it. :boxed:

Sorry, that just seemed to fit with the level of discourse maintained by the OP.
 
theprestige said:
I've got one:

What weighs more, a box of feathers or a box of lead?

Hint:
The box of lead is bigger than the box of feathers.
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The spoiler doesn't help.

The box of lead might be bigger but it doesn't say anything about the material the box is made of or how thick the box's walls are. The box of feathers might be in a box made of thick lead and the box of lead might contain some lead grains inside a cardboard box slightly bigger than the lead box the feathers are in.


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.
 
JesseCuster said:
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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:thumbsup::D Not to mention how angry some people get. ;):boxedin:
 
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.
 
Red Baron Farms said:
COME ON. Dont lose focus. It is a silly argument. He is being willfully ignorant. You can easily spot when someone does this. It's trivially easy. The form of the fallacious argument goes something like this:

"Wait, are you saying that (insert something clearly NOT said)"? Then argue how silly that thing was that wasn't said would be if it indeed was said.

It is not only fallacious reasoning, the fact WP has repeatedly used this fallacious arguing style on this thread is evidence (to me at least) why he lacks the critical thinking skills and logic ability to solve the OP in the first place, or even understand the explanation which came later.

People can disagree and I am perfectly fine with those here that don't agree but made sound arguments why they don't agree. However, if someone is forced to use a strawman logic fallacy or other unsound reasoning to back up their case, then it only shows they can't really back up their case. They either lack the intellectual tools, or are too lazy to think it through.
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Translation: "It's okay for me to make up stuff but it's wrong when you do it because reasons."
 
Loss Leader said:
Translation: "It's okay for me to make up stuff but it's wrong when you do it because reasons."
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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.

William Parcher said:
Wait, are you saying that for the entire time that you were 4, which is 364 days, your sister was half your age? It sure does seem like you are saying that.
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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.
 
Red Baron Farms said:
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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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.
 
Loss Leader said:
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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What? actually make an argument? I thought you were incapable. I apologize. So apparently you can think if you try hard enough. Not hard enough to realize that people asked (and I promised) that no silly pedantic solutions like that be used.
 
Red Baron Farms said:
What? actually make an argument? I thought you were incapable. I apologize. So apparently you can think if you try hard enough. Not hard enough to realize that people asked (and I promised) that no silly pedantic solutions like that be used.
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(And then you broke your promise.)

This signature is intended to irradiate people.
 
Red Baron Farms said:
16+9=1, 8+6=2, 16+13=5, 7+7=x. What is x?:D
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Is the trick just to find out the correct modulo? Do you need to figure out the right base being used as well? Give the full parameters of the problem, or it's just a stupid exercise in trying to demonstrate that the asker is clever.
 
Ziggurat said:
Is the trick just to find out the correct modulo? Do you need to figure out the right base being used as well? Give the full parameters of the problem, or it's just a stupid exercise in trying to demonstrate that the asker is clever.
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You're just saying that because you're too stupid to get the answer.

This signature is intended to irradiate people.
 
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