Phil and I seem to think the problem is sufficiently clearly specified to give an answer to. If you think 1⁄2 is a defensible answer, how would you reply to Robin Hanson’s comment?
FWIW, on POAT I am inclined towards “Whoever asked this question is an idiot”.
there are some problems similar to this one for which the answer is 1⁄2
there are some problems similar to this one for which the answer is 1⁄3
people seem to be disagreeing which sort of problem this is
all debate has devolved to debate over the meanings of words (in the problem statement and elsewhere)
Given this, I think it’s obvious that the problem is ambiguous, and arguing whether the problem is ambiguous is counterproductive as compared to just sorting out which sort of problem you’re responding to and what the right answer is.
IMHO, different people giving different answers to problems does not mean it is ambiguous. Nor does people disagreeing over the meanings of words. Words do have commonly-accepted meanings—that is how people communicate.
Phil and I seem to think the problem is sufficiently clearly specified to give an answer to. If you think 1⁄2 is a defensible answer, how would you reply to Robin Hanson’s comment?
FWIW, on POAT I am inclined towards “Whoever asked this question is an idiot”.
Actually I think it would make more sense to reply to my own comment in response to this. link
I am not sure that is going anywhere.
Personally, I think I pretty-much nailed what was wrong with the claim that the problem was ambiguous here.
I think that we’ve established the following:
there are some problems similar to this one for which the answer is 1⁄2
there are some problems similar to this one for which the answer is 1⁄3
people seem to be disagreeing which sort of problem this is
all debate has devolved to debate over the meanings of words (in the problem statement and elsewhere)
Given this, I think it’s obvious that the problem is ambiguous, and arguing whether the problem is ambiguous is counterproductive as compared to just sorting out which sort of problem you’re responding to and what the right answer is.
IMHO, different people giving different answers to problems does not mean it is ambiguous. Nor does people disagreeing over the meanings of words. Words do have commonly-accepted meanings—that is how people communicate.