gwnn Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Alice is looking at Bob. Bob is looking at Christine. Alice is not married, Christine is married. A/E please hide your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Edit; good question Gwnn.... Unless Bob can be a poodle or something :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtK78 Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 I want to change my vote! My explanation is hidden below. The answer is yes (and I voted insufficient information, so I want to change my vote). There are two possibilities - either Bob is married or Bob is unmarried. If Bob is married, then since Alice is looking at Bob, an unmarried person (Alice) is looking at a married person (Bob). If Bob is unmarried, then an unmarried person (Bob) is looking at a married person (Christine). Therefore, an unmarried person is looking at a married person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_k Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 I agree with ArtK78's reasoning. But if we're being pedantic we need further information. Firstly, are they all people? (Phil's point). Secondly, are married and unmarried mutually exclusive?. Or could Bob be divorced, widowed etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted November 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 I agree with ArtK78's reasoning. But if we're being pedantic we need further information. Firstly, are they all people? (Phil's point). Secondly, are married and unmarried mutually exclusive?. Or could Bob be divorced, widowed etc. dictionary.reference.com/browse/unmarried Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtK78 Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 I believe that the problem was phrased in a manner that the conditions "married" and "unmarried" are all or nothing conditions. You are either married or you are unmarried. It is a digital relationship. I know from personal experience that nothing is ever that simple. I am technically "married" to the mother of my children, but who I have not lived with for almost 10 years. I have been living with my girlfriend for over 8 years, and many believe that she is my "wife." Some time soon technicality and reality will match, but for now, there are a lot of gray areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffy Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Nice one. BTW when I read first I assumed Bob was unmarried, I had to reread ir a couple of times to realice that he wasn't, anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtK78 Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 We know that Alice is not married. We know that Christine is married. We don't know whether Bob is married or unmarried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted November 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 did anyone open the link I posted or did everyone just assume it was a blank post quoting another blank post? :o unmarried is defined as the opposite of married, there is no gray area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickf Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 What happened to Ted and Carol? nickfsydney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Tune in to the next Jerry Springer show to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 I agree with ArtK78's reasoning. But if we're being pedantic we need further information. Firstly, are they all people? (Phil's point). Secondly, are married and unmarried mutually exclusive?. Or could Bob be divorced, widowed etc. dictionary.reference.com/browse/unmarried Not really, because the question called for an unmarried person. We don't even know if Bob is a person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted November 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 The link regarding the word "unmarried" was in response to the part of Nigel's post that was about the word "unmarried". Anyway this thread is making me sick, I was really duped into c, I was hoping at least a few people would get it wrong. :( Although I'm not sure what "I want to change my answer" means in this context :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtK78 Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 The link regarding the word "unmarried" was in response to the part of Nigel's post that was about the word "unmarried". Anyway this thread is making me sick, I was really duped into c, I was hoping at least a few people would get it wrong. :( Although I'm not sure what "I want to change my answer" means in this context :) I did not see anyone who said "I want to change my answer." I stated that I wanted to change my vote, as I made my vote before thinking the problem through. If you check the hidden text in my first post, I spelled that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted November 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Art - I can't see how you spelled that out. You just said I voted c but the answer is a. Not unlike BBO misclicks, it is never clear why someone wishes to change his or her vote. Of course the correct answer is a and of course almost anyone is capable of arriving to that answer if they think it through. People like helene_t or I got it wrong because they did not think it through properly. When I was asked this on meebo by my friend I quickly answered c and then couldn't "change my vote" because he was already LOL-ing at me. Apparently I am suffering from a condition called dysrationalia, along with 80% of the world population. There is a blog post about it (that links to a sciam article): http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/...rationalia.html Not very good for bridge performance I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 The way the puzzle is phrased induces people to concentrate on the known marital status of Alice and and Christine, and the unknown status of Bob. That's what causes people who don't consider it fully to answer c. And if Alice and Christine had the same marital status, c would indeed be the correct answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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