Which Argument is Not Needed for Deciding the Location of Each Person?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around determining which of four given arguments is unnecessary for deciding the seating arrangement of four individuals (alton, yiber, mobi, sera) on a bench. The arguments present different spatial relationships among the individuals, and participants explore the implications of each argument on the overall arrangement.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants argue that argument C ("mobi sits close to alton") is not needed because its information is already implied by argument A ("mobi sits between sera and alton").
  • Others contend that argument D ("sera sits on the right from alton") is necessary as it provides unique information that cannot be derived from argument A.
  • A participant questions the interpretation of the term "close" in argument C, suggesting it could be ambiguous and may not mean "next to".
  • Another participant points out that without argument B ("yiber sits on the right from alton and sera"), other arrangements could still be valid, indicating that the necessity of arguments may depend on specific interpretations.
  • Some participants propose that if one argument can be derived from another, then the derived argument may be considered unnecessary.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no consensus on which argument is unnecessary, as participants present competing views on the necessity of arguments C and D, and the interpretation of the relationships described in the arguments remains contested.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty regarding the clarity of the arguments, particularly the use of terms like "close", which may lead to different interpretations of the seating arrangements.

transgalactic
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alton,yiber,mobi,sera are sitting on a bench
three out of four of these arguments are needed in order to deside
the location of eah person.

which one of these arguments does not needed?

A.mobi sits between sera and alton.
B.yiber sits on the right from alton and sera
C.mobi sits close to alton
D.sera sits on the right from alton


in a previos femiliar question that i asked here
we found that one argument can be found from another argument

1:
S M A
A M S

2:
SAY

3:
AM

4:
AS

argument 4 can be found from argument 1
which means that 4 is not needed

this is the only pair of arguments which have similarities

the answer is argument 3
where is my mistake?
 
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transgalactic said:
alton,yiber,mobi,sera are sitting on a bench
three out of four of these arguments are needed in order to deside
the location of eah person.

which one of these arguments does not needed?

A.mobi sits between sera and alton.
B.yiber sits on the right from alton and sera
C.mobi sits close to alton
D.sera sits on the right from altonin a previos femiliar question that i asked here
we found that one argument can be found from another argument

1:
S M A
A M S

2:
SAY

3:
AM

4:
AS

argument 4 can be found from argument 1
which means that 4 is not needed

this is the only pair of arguments which have similarities

the answer is argument 3
where is my mistake?

You have correctly provided two hypotheses for argument 1. Argument 4 discards the first hypothesis, so it is needed.
Argument 2 says that Y is not between A and S, so the order must be AMSY. Argument 3 is not needed.
 
you sayd
"Argument 4 discards the first hypothesis"
whats the first hypothesis?
did you meen the first argument?

my point is if we can find the data of argument 4 in argument 1

then argument 1 is not needed

is that correct?
 
transgalactic said:
you sayd
"Argument 4 discards the first hypothesis"
whats the first hypothesis?
did you meen the first argument?

my point is if we can find the data of argument 4 in argument 1

then argument 1 is not needed

is that correct?

No, you proposed 2 hypotheses for argument 1: SMA and AMS. Argument 4 discards SMA. It remains only AMS. If you did not have argument 4, you could not eliminate any of them.
 
transgalactic said:
my point is if we can find the data of argument 4 in argument 1

then argument 1 is not needed

is that correct?

Yes. If you can find the exact data from (D) within (A), then (D) is not needed. But! You can't find (D) within (A), so (D) is needed.

However, look at (A) and (C). (A) says that Mobi is between Sera and Alton. Therefore, ONLY looking at (A), we know that the situation is one of:

YSMA
YAMS
SMAY
AMSY

We don't know which one is true yet (because we've only looked at (A)), but we know it's one of those 4 possibilities.

Now look at (C). It says that Mobi sits next to Alton. But we already knew that with (A)! If you look at all the examples in (A) that are possible, EVERY SINGLE ONE has Mobi and Alton sitting next to each other. Therefore, since (C) told us nothing new, and told us LESS than (A), we know that (C) is unnecessary.

DaveE
 
davee123 said:
Yes. If you can find the exact data from (D) within (A), then (D) is not needed. But! You can't find (D) within (A), so (D) is needed.

However, look at (A) and (C). (A) says that Mobi is between Sera and Alton. Therefore, ONLY looking at (A), we know that the situation is one of:

YSMA
YAMS
SMAY
AMSY

We don't know which one is true yet (because we've only looked at (A)), but we know it's one of those 4 possibilities.

Now look at (C). It says that Mobi sits next to Alton. But we already knew that with (A)! If you look at all the examples in (A) that are possible, EVERY SINGLE ONE has Mobi and Alton sitting next to each other. Therefore, since (C) told us nothing new, and told us LESS than (A), we know that (C) is unnecessary.

DaveE
Not really. Without statement B, you could also have:
SYMA
SMYA
AYMS
AMYS
In two of those you have A and M close to each other.
 
CEL said:
Not really. Without statement B, you could also have:
SYMA
SMYA
AYMS
AMYS
In two of those you have A and M close to each other.

This gets into the tricky parts of language. I suspect that transgalactic's native language is not English, and that s/he's transcribing these problems from one language to ours. If not, these problems are very unclear in their writing. For instance, "mobi sits close to alton" is ambiguous. "Close" is a relative term. Hence, if there is one person between Mobi and Alton, that's still arguably "close", even though I assume that by "close" they mean "next to".

Anyway, suffice to say that I assumed that (A) meant "Mobi sits directly between Sera and Alton". If you don't assume that, the problem is slightly more difficult to prove, but still possible.

Regardless of which interpretation of (A) you choose:

Ignoring none of them gives you ONLY: AMSY
Ignoring (A) gives you possibilities: AMSY or MASY
Ignoring (B) gives you possibilities: AMSY or YAMS
Ignoring (C) gives you ONLY: AMSY
Ignoring (D) gives you possibilities: AMSY or SMAY

DaveE
 
davee123 said:
This gets into the tricky parts of language. I suspect that transgalactic's native language is not English, and that s/he's transcribing these problems from one language to ours. If not, these problems are very unclear in their writing. For instance, "mobi sits close to alton" is ambiguous. "Close" is a relative term. Hence, if there is one person between Mobi and Alton, that's still arguably "close", even though I assume that by "close" they mean "next to".

Anyway, suffice to say that I assumed that (A) meant "Mobi sits directly between Sera and Alton". If you don't assume that, the problem is slightly more difficult to prove, but still possible.

Regardless of which interpretation of (A) you choose:

Ignoring none of them gives you ONLY: AMSY
Ignoring (A) gives you possibilities: AMSY or MASY
Ignoring (B) gives you possibilities: AMSY or YAMS
Ignoring (C) gives you ONLY: AMSY
Ignoring (D) gives you possibilities: AMSY or SMAY

DaveE

My native language is not English either. I was born and live in Brazil, so may be I misinterpreted the question. Anyway, my conclusion is the same you got: (C) is superfluous.
 
c is not needed
 

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