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[-] idunnololz@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

Ok but like how do you know it's 1/3 of the apple without any other tools.

[-] blarth@thelemmy.club 13 points 11 months ago

Let’s not go too deep on this alright

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 11 months ago
[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

if the cake is a 1-dimensional interval ....
The Stromquist moving-knives procedure uses four simultaneously-moving knives....

Consider a spherical cow perched above a black hole, facing the sunset....

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

I did not expect to see this today

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

To put that in perspective, for 2 people that would be ~4.3 billion

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

alright we better get started then

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 11 months ago

It's just the upper bound. I have no idea what the process is lol.

[-] ghen@sh.itjust.works 10 points 11 months ago

Cut first, choose last. It's as fair as you can get when eyeballing it

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Only works with two people. For three you use Selfridge-Conway procedure which uses up to five cuts.

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 8 points 11 months ago

What's funny is that you've actually stumbled onto an entire problem that's studied quite heavily. I remembered a Numberphile video about this. The problem is called "envy-free cake splitting". It's pretty straightforward. A split is envy-free if no one believes someone else got more than them. For three people this was figured out in 1960 and you can read about it here. It has been solved for N participants as well and you can read about the general problem here.

For two people, it's obvious. One splits and one chooses. The first person is incentivized to make it even because they don't know which they'll get.

I was going to give a summary of the process for three people but it's too much to explain succinctly. Just check the article I posted lol.

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

How is it obvious for two people, what if I have horrible manual dexterity and despite my best efforts, I slice the cake like 1/3 and 2/3, and the other person picks the bigger piece? I would very much envy the other piece

[-] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 11 months ago

Your "cut" would not be complete until you believe you've made them 50/50.

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

here we go infinite cuts

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 0 points 11 months ago

Then have them cut and you choose. Easy. Now they envy your piece and having better dexterity as well.

Insert Thanos balanced meme here.

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

it is a magical long sword of apple slicing (+5 damage and THAC0 against apples, +1 otherwise)

[-] fargeol@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

You don't, you only know it's possible to do so thanks to the Ham sandwich theorem

this post was submitted on 21 May 2025
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