Walking Up Stairs: Climb 34 Steps in 20 Steps?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a riddle involving climbing 34 stairs in 20 steps without skipping or double stepping. Participants explore various interpretations and scenarios that could make this possible, including the context of escalators and rephrasing the original question.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that the scenario could involve an escalator, which allows for the possibility of reaching the top in fewer steps.
  • Another participant proposes rephrasing the question to make it less obvious while still providing logical information.
  • A different perspective mentions starting on the 14th step as a potential solution to the riddle.
  • Participants discuss the idea of walking against an escalator as a way to reinterpret the problem, although one expresses caution about the difficulty of this approach.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on a single interpretation of the riddle, with multiple competing views and suggestions for rephrasing the question remaining unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the context of the stairs (e.g., escalator vs. stationary stairs) are not explicitly stated, leading to different interpretations of the scenario.

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I can walk up the 34 stairs to the top in 20 steps never jumping/missing a stair and not double stepping. How is that possible?
 
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Stairs of an escalator.
 
correct, easy i know. I thought of that while i was on my way to work this morning on one. Think we can re-arrange the question so it may not be so obvious but still gives the reader all the logical info they need?
 
You started on the 14th step ;)[/color]
 
Awsome alkatran! Could reword the question like so:

I can walk up the 34 stairs to the top in 20 steps when done counting. never jumping/missing a stair and not double stepping and not on an escalator. How is that possible?

or something like that. Maybe don't need to say when done counting? Never been good a thinking up new problems like that.
 
Bob is walking downtown, and finds himself standing at the bottom of 34 steps. He begins climbing the steps. At after twenty steps, he reaches the top. He has not skipped any steps.

Nah, too obvious.
 
You could also try walking the other way around: Walking 34 steps on a 20 step staircase. (going against the escalator). May be less obvious.
 
Galileo said:
You could also try walking the other way around: Walking 34 steps on a 20 step staircase. (going against the escalator). May be less obvious.

i would never recommend that. actually the last part when you are close to the end the real tough part, and i once just managed to escape unhurt, otherwise i would have had it for good.

so, if you want to have fun with an escalator just go in the same direction as the escalator.
 

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