What happens if you get scared half to death twice? [modified]
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Can you help settle a debate between myself and a colleague? Given the wording in the title, how do you interprit it, what is your conclusion and how do you reach it? I won't reveal my arguement yet so as to maintain impartiality. EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
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modified on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:30 AM
influenz wrote:
EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
I was going to say 1/4 too, but not one to let go of a good counterargument: so, you get scared half to death. But did you die? No, I would presume that you "recover" to full life. Therefore, the second time you get scared half to death, it's still a half. Furthermore, if you're currently scared half to death, that's a state of being, so being scared half to death again doesn't really mean the half not in death gets halved, it simply means that you continue in your state of 1/2 death. Marc
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Not until you open the box. Then they mayen haven on-when beforenow beensince snuffed it. See Dr Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveller's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations.
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
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You can be scared half to death many times. I have driven at 120 mph hour twice, but never managed to get to 240mph.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC League Table Link CCC Link[^]
Dalek Dave wrote:
I have driven at 120 mph hour twice, but never managed to get to 240mph.
It's suddenly driving at 0 mph that brings about the death bit.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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influenz wrote:
EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
I was going to say 1/4 too, but not one to let go of a good counterargument: so, you get scared half to death. But did you die? No, I would presume that you "recover" to full life. Therefore, the second time you get scared half to death, it's still a half. Furthermore, if you're currently scared half to death, that's a state of being, so being scared half to death again doesn't really mean the half not in death gets halved, it simply means that you continue in your state of 1/2 death. Marc
I'm not convinced: surely life is a binary state - it's there or it's not. So, using integer arithmetic,
int life = 1;
life *= (int)0.5;would give
life == 0i.e. death.Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
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influenz wrote:
EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
I was going to say 1/4 too, but not one to let go of a good counterargument: so, you get scared half to death. But did you die? No, I would presume that you "recover" to full life. Therefore, the second time you get scared half to death, it's still a half. Furthermore, if you're currently scared half to death, that's a state of being, so being scared half to death again doesn't really mean the half not in death gets halved, it simply means that you continue in your state of 1/2 death. Marc
The presumption of recovery is a big one but I like the state of being argument, allot of this is in the initial interpretation. Yours is a third argument though as my colleague is in the "you're dead" camp!
;-]
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Can you help settle a debate between myself and a colleague? Given the wording in the title, how do you interprit it, what is your conclusion and how do you reach it? I won't reveal my arguement yet so as to maintain impartiality. EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
;-]
modified on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:30 AM
Statistically, the two events are not connected, so have no bearing on each other. Alive is a binary state - you are either alive or dead, the concept of nearly dead is another way of saying still alive.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
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I'm not convinced: surely life is a binary state - it's there or it's not. So, using integer arithmetic,
int life = 1;
life *= (int)0.5;would give
life == 0i.e. death.Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
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Can you help settle a debate between myself and a colleague? Given the wording in the title, how do you interprit it, what is your conclusion and how do you reach it? I won't reveal my arguement yet so as to maintain impartiality. EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
;-]
modified on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:30 AM
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Statistically, the two events are not connected, so have no bearing on each other. Alive is a binary state - you are either alive or dead, the concept of nearly dead is another way of saying still alive.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
Interesting that yourself and OriginalGriff both agree that life is a binary state but based on that your conclusions are opposed, dead v's alive.
;-]
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Elastic limit, plastic limit.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]
Trollslayer wrote:
Elastic limit, plastic limit.
Caustic gimmick, gauze tape lymerick. Sorry, I thought we were writing lyrics here.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
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Can you help settle a debate between myself and a colleague? Given the wording in the title, how do you interprit it, what is your conclusion and how do you reach it? I won't reveal my arguement yet so as to maintain impartiality. EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
;-]
modified on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:30 AM
If you can't find a wit, would you settle for two half-wits?
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Elastic limit, plastic limit.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]
So an elastic limit of up to 50% and you would recover from the first scaring resulting in 0.5? A limit of over 50% and you would be down to 0.25?
;-]
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Interesting that yourself and OriginalGriff both agree that life is a binary state but based on that your conclusions are opposed, dead v's alive.
;-]
Yeah - I'm a "glass twice as big as it needs to be" type of guy.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
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Yeah - I'm a "glass twice as big as it needs to be" type of guy.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
"glass twice as big as it needs to be"
hah, I like that and might just steal it and pass it off as my own!!
;-]
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Can you help settle a debate between myself and a colleague? Given the wording in the title, how do you interprit it, what is your conclusion and how do you reach it? I won't reveal my arguement yet so as to maintain impartiality. EDIT: Well the first few replies back up my answer of 25% alive, looks like it will be free coffee for me if no-one can disprove this?!
;-]
modified on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:30 AM
Stoopid, meaningless question. What is half dead? How much more dead do you have to be so that you couldn't come back from it? 1%? 5% Anyway, the answer is infinite since you recover once, you can recover innumerable times.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
"glass twice as big as it needs to be"
hah, I like that and might just steal it and pass it off as my own!!
;-]
I've had that a few times.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
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Stoopid, meaningless question. What is half dead? How much more dead do you have to be so that you couldn't come back from it? 1%? 5% Anyway, the answer is infinite since you recover once, you can recover innumerable times.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
Indeed half-dead is not really tangible, just a turn of phrase. Though it does prompt interesting debate as people interpret it differently and apply different logic. Your conclusion for example allows for recovery whereas others don't.
;-]
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I'm not convinced: surely life is a binary state - it's there or it's not. So, using integer arithmetic,
int life = 1;
life *= (int)0.5;would give
life == 0i.e. death.Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.
OriginalGriff wrote:
I'm not convinced: surely life is a binary state - it's there or it's not.
Not to take away from the humor of the subject, but, for example, I found out yesterday that this 19 year old kid got in a car accident and ended up with broken ribs, a shattered knee and hip, and broken wrist, all of which requires several surgeries, etc. (He wasn't drunk, he was actually swerving out of the way in panic of someone who was passing illegally in the oncoming lane and smacked into a bridge). So, I don't know. I think life is definitely more than a binary state--certainly the subjective experience is more than a two state experience, and even objectively, I would have to say that this poor kid (as an example) is definitely not in the "fullest" of life at the moment. Marc
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Indeed half-dead is not really tangible, just a turn of phrase. Though it does prompt interesting debate as people interpret it differently and apply different logic. Your conclusion for example allows for recovery whereas others don't.
;-]
influenz wrote:
interesting debate
Really?
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The presumption of recovery is a big one but I like the state of being argument, allot of this is in the initial interpretation. Yours is a third argument though as my colleague is in the "you're dead" camp!
;-]
influenz wrote:
Yours is a third argument
:jig: Then I have succeeded! :-D
influenz wrote:
The presumption of recovery is a big one
Well, the presumption of recovery is based on the ability to change state. For example, I would assume that one is alive when scared half to death, otherwise, how would you experience being scared half to death? Therefore, why should there be any presumption about recovery (returning back to full life)? In other words, if you can go from full to 1/2, I would start with the presumption that you can also go back from 1/2 to full. :) There's other, more obscure arguments I could make, that being scared half to death is a very transitory experience rather than having any permanence to it, as would require to be scared half to death, then in that state, scared half to death again. :) Marc
