Thread: 6/2(1+2) =

Originally Posted by Eevo

another reason to hate sql (i use it at work )
i prefer to quote calvin & hobbes
he's life lessons are more meaningful


Hobbes: What's that cereal you're eating?
Calvin: It's my new favorite, "Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs". Have a taste.
Hobbes: Thank you. (clutching throat) MFFPBTH!!!!! S-Sw-Sw SWEET!!!!!!!!!
Calvin: Actually, they're kinda bland till you scoop sugar on 'em.


Calvin: The secret to happiness is short-term, stupid self-interest!

Calvin: The problem with people is that they don't look at the big picture. Eventually, we're each going to die, our species will go extinct, the sun will explode, and the universe will collapse. Existence isn't only temporary, it's pointless! We're all doomed, and worse, nothing matters!


damm, im gonna spend all night reading these

G'day Eevo,

I will introduce a statement that is quoted as matching French writer Voltaire, beliefs "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". It may not actually have been written by Voltaire.

According to Who said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? the source comes from The Friends of Voltaire, written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall and published in 1906 under the pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre. Hall said that she paraphrased Voltaire's words in his "Treatise on Toleration.

Gee who would have thought that we would be writing about mathematics, Charlie Brown, Calvin and Hobbs and Voltaire on a Land Rover forum.

To conclude I will use some informally borrow from Homer Simpson, " MMMMMMMmmmm Land Rovers"

Kind Regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by Ferret

Wolfram 'Mathematica' says it's 9 also

so if i write a program and i put in the equation and it comes out with 42, does that make it correct? no.

yes wolfram is respected, but its only as good as its programmer. if that programmer uses different convention, who am i to argue with him/her?

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".

regardless of who said it, a great quote.

goodnight!

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

Yes, Ive also seen 3,5,7 and 9.

if you have already seen a 9 tailed cat, why are we having this conversation?
any why didnt you take a picture?

Originally Posted by Eevo

yes wolfram is respected, but its only as good as its programmer. if that programmer uses different convention, who am i to argue with him/her?

So the guys who slapped up 'SQL Sever' used the wrong convention and the guys who knocked together 'Mathematica' used the wrong convention?

Yes, I suppose a convention is a just a convention and in that sense it is arbitrary. However, a fair bit of the worlds commerce (SQL server) and science (Mathematica) depends on getting basic thing such as the 'order of precedence' universally standardised so everybody plays by the same rules.

If you still reckon the answer is 1, good for you but your out of step with the standard convention recognised around the world.

As it is written, the answer is 9. Having implicit multiplication taking precedence over normal multiplication is idiotic nonsense that leads to ambiguity in my opinion. Implicit multiplication is just shorthand and that is all. You are required to imagine the multiplication sign as being there and as such it has the same precedence as division so is read from left to right.

Demonstrated here-
6/2(3)=x
6/2=x/3 x must be 9

or
6/2(3)=x
6(3)=2x x must be 9

or
6/2(3)=x
(3)/2=x/6 x must be 9

Alternately the equation should be written as 6*0.5*3 because divide by 2 is equal to times by a half. How could you possibly interpret it to be 6*0.5/3 ???

That is, you are saying that 6/2(1+2) is exactly the same as 6/2/(1+2) I don't think so.

The only proper way it can be written to equal 1 is 6/(2(3)) otherwise more complex algebra would collapse in a heap of ambiguity......in my opinion. My old maths lecturers would be rolling in their graves that we are even arguing about this. Any so called convention that can lead to such ambiguity is mathematical trolling.

Sitting on the couch reading this thread:

Me, "what do you think the answer to this is?"
SWMBO "9"
Me "that's what I think too but some people think it's 1."
SWMBO "1? Only if you didn't go to school"

Didn't just marry her for her body, or taste in cars

Originally Posted by Ferret

used the wrong convention and the guys used the wrong convention?

but your out of step with the standard convention recognised around the world.

the convention isnt wrong, just different.
its like how some countrues use 220–240 V/50 Hz and some use 100–127 V/60 Hz


no, im in step with what my education taught me. i blame my education.