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6÷2(1+2) (programming.dev)
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by wischi@programming.dev to c/memes@lemmy.ml

https://zeta.one/viral-math/

I wrote a (very long) blog post about those viral math problems and am looking for feedback, especially from people who are not convinced that the problem is ambiguous.

It's about a 30min read so thank you in advance if you really take the time to read it, but I think it's worth it if you joined such discussions in the past, but I'm probably biased because I wrote it :)

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[-] sailingbythelee@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

I didn't know until now that I unconsciously use strong implicit multiplication (meaning that I get the answer "1"). I believe it happens more or less as a consequence of starting inside the parentheses and then working my way out.

It is a funny little bit of notational ambiguity, so it is funny that people get riled up about it.

[-] SmartmanApps@programming.dev 1 points 7 months ago

It is a funny little bit of notational ambiguity

It's not ambiguous - it's The Distributive Law. You got the correct answer, you just forgot what the rule is called (as opposed to people who forget the rule altogether).

this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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