540
all 22 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 11 months ago

What if he'd hoped for 18000 spears? The total number of spears hoped for isnt stated, therefore we cannot assume that 6001 is exactly half of the total.

[-] Visstix@lemmy.world 39 points 11 months ago

In this instance we can tell it's 6001 though.

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 20 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

therefore we cannot assume that 6001 is exactly half of the total.

Correct, all we can deduce is the bounds:

Let x be the number of spears hoped for.

6000 < x/2 < 6002

12000 < x < 12004

Edit: fixed error

[-] rasensprenger@feddit.de 13 points 11 months ago

Less than half and more than half imply strict inequality, so 6000 < x/2 < 6002, so 12001 <= x <= 12003

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You're absolutely correct, it should be "<". Since he wished for such an odd number, I wouldn't constrain x to integers though. Maybe he wished for "more than twelve thousand spears"?

[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Why would you need to assume? If 6000<50% AND 6002>50%, he wishes for 12002 spears.

Edit: dammit, that's a lot of spears.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 10 months ago

You forgot a zero, but yeah. Also I think they're talking about the movie, not the meme. In the context of the meme we can safely assume he meant 12,002 spears. (Let's not assume fractional spears are a thing.)

[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago

They are a thing, but I don't think anyone is hoping for those.

[-] LotrOrc@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

If it's the pointy end it could still be useful though

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Because the number you're reasoning about is the number of spears he wished for, not half the number he wished for, so mathematically, the logic holds for 3 different possible wished for integer values.

To arrive at precisely 12002 you need to make a further assumption which nobody has explained so far.

Also, a minor point, but that he wished for an integer number of spears is another assumption. Albeit a very reasonable seeming one, it's an assumption none the less. He could have wished for 12 thousand and π spears, for example. And no, I have no idea what you'd do with that ~14% of a spear.

If this were an SAT question, and upvotes correlated to what people were answering, well, the majority got this question wrong.

[-] Thief_of_Crows@sh.itjust.works -1 points 10 months ago

1201, 1202, or 1203 spears.

[-] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

They don't think it be like it is, but it do.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[-] cazsiel@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Anywhere between 6000.5 and 6001.5 could be exactly half the number of spears he was hoping for assuming he's hoping for whole spears.

[-] SaakoPaahtaa@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Imagine being the guy with half a spear

[-] geelgroenebroccoli@feddit.nl 4 points 10 months ago

I sure hope he has the pointy half

[-] essellburns@beehaw.org 1 points 10 months ago

If he was hoping for 18,000 then 6,000 is not less than half of what he hoped for. It is exactly half of what he had for.

[-] essellburns@beehaw.org 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

If he hoped for 18,000 then 6,002 is still less than half of what he hoped for and the third panel makes no sense.

[-] Nakoichi@hexbear.net 6 points 11 months ago

He had hoped for precisely 12002 spears.

[-] qaopjlll@hexbear.net 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

How do you know he didn't hope for 12001? Or 12003?

this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
540 points (97.0% liked)

Lord of the memes

7828 readers
258 users here now

The Lord of the rings memes communitiy on Lemmy. Share memes about Lord of the rings and be respectful.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS