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 38 points 2 years ago

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

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

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 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years 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 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

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 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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 2 years ago (1 children)

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

[–] LotrOrc@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

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

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years 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 2 years ago (1 children)

1201, 1202, or 1203 spears.

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

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

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–] cazsiel@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Imagine being the guy with half a spear

[–] geelgroenebroccoli@feddit.nl 4 points 2 years ago

I sure hope he has the pointy half

[–] Nakoichi@hexbear.net 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

He had hoped for precisely 12002 spears.

[–] bananaghost@kbin.social 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Or 12003

[–] morrowind@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

Or 12001