[ubuntu-mono] [Bug 774142] Re: logic error in a logic puzzle

[Olaf Seibert]

On Sat 30 Apr 2011 at 16:05:35 -0000, Jordi Mas wrote:
> If you Google the sentence "times older than his son" you have more than
> 26.000 results, many of them on math sites.

You know just as well as I do, that "many people do it" doesn't make it
right :-) "Billions of flies eat shit, so we must eat shit too!"

> How 'John was 3 times older than his son.' is different from '"John was
> 3 times AS OLD AS his son"  in terms of meaning? Or the current sentence
> is broken in terms of grammar?

It is not grammatical. "Three times <what> older than his son"?
You can be "5 years older than his son", but "three times" is not some
quantity, it is simply incomplete.

The only thing it could mean, if it meant anything, is that the son is y
years old, and the father is "3 times y" years older, making him y + 3 y =
4 y years old.

Likewise, and worse, is people saying "this is three times cheaper". I
hope that such an expression doesn't occur in brainy.

Cheers,
-Olaf.
-- 
___ Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert  -- There's no point being grown-up if you 
\X/ rhialto/at/xs4all.nl    -- can't be childish sometimes. -The 4th Doctor

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/774142

Title:
  logic error in a logic puzzle

Status in “gbrainy” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: gbrainy

  This bug seems related to bug #622197, but it is about the language which is in error.
  The text of the question is "Johnś age is nowadays 2 times his son's age. 12 years ago. John was 3 times older than his son."

  What is meant, apparently, is "John was 3 times AS OLD AS his son".
  "3 times older than" is nonsense, but as far as one absolutely wants to attach a meaning to it, it must be "4 times as old".

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
  Package: gbrainy 1.65-0ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
  Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic i686
  Architecture: i386
  Date: Sat Apr 30 14:10:57 2011
  LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_US:en
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: gbrainy
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)