I agree this question is phrased very strangely in a way I find hard to parse. Perhaps this is a common way of speaking in academia, but "what can we say about…

I agree this question is phrased very strangely in a way I find hard to parse. Perhaps this is a common way of speaking in academia, but "what can we say about…" was not a phrase I immediately understood. I was also unsure if he meant `not A AND not B` or, casually, `not A` and also `not B`. If it was phrased more precisely, I think I would have been able to answer better. This whole thing reminds me of old-style, bad tech interviews where the interviewer is really selecting for someone similar to themselves, i.e., someone who understands a particular obscure phrasing of a problem, and immediately knows the correct answer. However, he does point out that he tried explaining things, and different phrasing, so maybe there really is something here.