4 ms·
Consider what 1 times faster or 100% faster would mean.
by polar 7y ago
Consider what 1 times faster or 100% faster would mean.
- amelius 7y agoLanguage doesn't follow logic sometimes.
- zimpenfish 7y agohttps://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=463 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=463 >> That last reaction incorporates one criticism of Times-er, namely that it is "illogical" or "irrational": X times more than Y MUST MEAN 'Y plus X-times-Y (that is, 'X+1 times Y'), not 'X times as many/great as Y' (that is, 'X times Y'). (In the most common variant of this reaction, X times more than Y is disparaged because it is said to be ambiguous, with both the 'X times Y' and 'X+1 times Y' interpretations.) >> The appeal here is to the idea that ordinary-language expressions are simply realizations of logical (or arithmetical) formulas. This is just backwards. The formulas are there to represent the meanings of expressions; they are not the prior reality, merely cloaked in (those devilishly vague) words of actual languages.
- hervature 7y agoNot disagreeing with this but I would argue that logical inconsistency here is that nothing is faster and so using the word is what breaks the math. For example you also wouldn’t say -0.5 times faster, it just doesn’t make sense.
- bengillies 7y ago1 times faster means "the same speed as". 100% faster means "twice as fast". Though of course nobody would say 1 times faster in reality.
- wongarsu 7y agoSo what do "0.5 times faster" and "50% faster mean"? Are both identical to "half as fast"?