It seems that he’s claiming the life of someone in prison must be more valuable because they when there’s a choice between something that makes them live longer and something that makes them happy, their given what makes them live longer.
They’re in prison as punishment. Their happiness has negative value. If he’s assuming the value of their happiness and the value of the King’s happiness are the same, he’ll get a very wrong answer.
Also, I thought the answer to the last question was very obvious. Granted, he took a fraction of the time alloted, but it still seems like they acted like that one was supposed to be by far the most difficult.
I also thought that the approach he took on that one didn’t make much sense. I thought the answer would have to do with how much people would pay to live in equivalent conditions. When the cambist found that the king’s days were worth less, I assumed at first that this was a result of his responsibilities, not his vices.
If I understand the story correctly, his metric was effectively “what fraction of the remaining life in the man’s body is expended in a day?”
Also, I thought the answer to the last question was very obvious. Granted, he took a fraction of the time alloted, but it still seems like they acted like that one was supposed to be by far the most difficult.
At first blush, it does sound rather difficult. And naturally, it appeared difficult to Lord Iron. If it were as difficult as it appeared, I imagine it would shock our suspensions of disbelief that the cambist should solve it in such a brief span.
It seems that he’s claiming the life of someone in prison must be more valuable because they when there’s a choice between something that makes them live longer and something that makes them happy, their given what makes them live longer.
They’re in prison as punishment. Their happiness has negative value. If he’s assuming the value of their happiness and the value of the King’s happiness are the same, he’ll get a very wrong answer.
Also, I thought the answer to the last question was very obvious. Granted, he took a fraction of the time alloted, but it still seems like they acted like that one was supposed to be by far the most difficult.
I also thought that the approach he took on that one didn’t make much sense. I thought the answer would have to do with how much people would pay to live in equivalent conditions. When the cambist found that the king’s days were worth less, I assumed at first that this was a result of his responsibilities, not his vices.
If I understand the story correctly, his metric was effectively “what fraction of the remaining life in the man’s body is expended in a day?”
At first blush, it does sound rather difficult. And naturally, it appeared difficult to Lord Iron. If it were as difficult as it appeared, I imagine it would shock our suspensions of disbelief that the cambist should solve it in such a brief span.