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But that isn't really an inversion, more a double negative. The example given is "how do I keep my pilots alive?" with the inversion "what could kill my pilots

by dtech 6y ago

But that isn't really an inversion, more a double negative. The example given is "how do I keep my pilots alive?" with the inversion "what could kill my pilots?". Your result would be "how do I avoid not keeping my pilots alive?", which is just the original question.

SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
> The example given is "how do I keep my pilots alive?" with the inversion "what could kill my pilots?". Pretty much that, except in any long-standing industry, it's framed as "what does kill pilots?" and "Lets study the last few decades of pilot mortality data and identify causes". Safety standard improve one Air-crash Investigation at a time. "The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error'" by Sidney Dekker is probably where to start with that field.
marcosdumay 6y ago
I imagine a single negation would increase the solution space so much that it wouldn't be useful anymore. A double negation will change the question format, so our (irrational) minds treat it differently, yet keep the solution space the same.
- feanaro 6y ago
  It might be irrational in some cases, but it also might have to do with the double negation of a statement not being practically equivalent to the statement, as in constructive mathematics.
Wistar 6y ago
I have read about mathematician Abraham Wald's operational research for the US on WWII aircraft armor placement. Wald challenged the instincts and conventional wisdom of military commanders who thought that more armor should be added to the places on airplanes that had the most bullet holes upon returning from a mission. Wald instead flipped it and recommended armor be added to the areas with less or no combat damage on returning airplanes because the shot-up areas were the parts of the plane that COULD withstand damage, since the plane had made it back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Wald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Wald
maps7 6y ago
I agree my example was more a double negative. The way I am thinking though would result in something similar to yours.

by dtech 6y ago

SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago

> The example given is "how do I keep my pilots alive?" with the inversion "what could kill my pilots?". Pretty much that, except in any long-standing industry, it's framed as "what does kill pilots?" and "Lets study the last few decades of pilot mortality data and identify causes". Safety standard improve one Air-crash Investigation at a time. "The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error'" by Sidney Dekker is probably where to start with that field.

marcosdumay 6y ago

I imagine a single negation would increase the solution space so much that it wouldn't be useful anymore. A double negation will change the question format, so our (irrational) minds treat it differently, yet keep the solution space the same.

feanaro 6y ago
It might be irrational in some cases, but it also might have to do with the double negation of a statement not being practically equivalent to the statement, as in constructive mathematics.

Wistar 6y ago

I have read about mathematician Abraham Wald's operational research for the US on WWII aircraft armor placement. Wald challenged the instincts and conventional wisdom of military commanders who thought that more armor should be added to the places on airplanes that had the most bullet holes upon returning from a mission. Wald instead flipped it and recommended armor be added to the areas with less or no combat damage on returning airplanes because the shot-up areas were the parts of the plane that COULD withstand damage, since the plane had made it back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Wald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Wald

maps7 6y ago

I agree my example was more a double negative. The way I am thinking though would result in something similar to yours.