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 :)
“Which ruleset do you consider correct” presupposes, as the comment said, that there are 2 rulesets. There aren’t. There’s the standard, well known, and simplified model which is taught to kids, and there’s the real world, where adults communicate by using context and shared understanding. Picking a side here makes no sense.
When the @onion said there were two different sets of rules, you know as well as I do that they meant strong vs. weak juxtaposition.
You’re right that in reality nobody would write an equation like this, and if they did they would usually provide context to help resolve it without resorting to having to guess…
But the point of this post is exactly to point out this hole that exists in the standard order of operations, the drama that has resulted from it, and to shine some light on it.
Picking a side makes no sense only if you have the context to otherwise resolve it… If you were told to solve this equation, and given no other context to do so, you would either have to pick a side or resolve it both ways and give both answers. In that scenario, crossing your arms and refusing to because “it doesn’t make sense” would get you nowhere.
In all honesty, I think you’re acting like the people who say things like “I’ve never used algebra, so it was worthless teaching me it as a kid” as though there aren’t people who would learn something out of this.
Neither of which is a rule in Maths, as had already been pointed out. The 2 relevant rules, both of which never got mentioned in the whole discussion, are The Distributive Law and Terms.
No, that was wrong - they really would. 2(1+2) is the standard way to write a factorised term. i.e. a(b+c).
There’s not a hole in the order of operations - there’s a hole in people’s memories where The Distributive Law and Terms used to be. You’ll notice no students ever get this wrong, because they remember all the rules.
That “side” being follow the rules of Maths - works every time. :-)
You are literally so far removed from this conversation I don’t know what to do with you. Good luck.
That’s rich considering what sparked this conversation was you refusing to answer a simple question.
Good luck to you too - with reading comprehension like your’s, you might just need it.
Man.
I’ll just say it again, you’re the one saying this problem is completely unambiguous, with your only explanation as to why being that real people communicate as though that solves every edge case imaginable.
I’m just saying, if you really believe that to be the case, Good luck.