6 ms·
For the record this is an example of the "Fencepost error" where the last item in a range gets double counted as the first item in the next range and is incredi
by cwmma 2y ago
For the record this is an example of the "Fencepost error" where the last item in a range gets double counted as the first item in the next range and is incredibly common in dyscalculia (the math version of dyslexia) as people will have "visual number lines" in their head that cover ranges of numbers but the ends get double counted, so there will be a 10-20 number line then a 20-30 number line.
I suspect TheJosh had something like that with the week where he visualized it with Sundays at both ends but lacked the self awareness to realize that this was not a universal representation.
- ethbr1 2y agoAs the quip goes, there are two hard problems in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.
- 6LLvveMx2koXfwn 2y agoThat's three though.
- recursive 2y agoThat's the neat part.
- emmelaich 2y agoDepends what you mean by the name "three"
- 6LLvveMx2koXfwn 2y agoor "neat"
- fetzu 2y agoNot if you start counting at zero!
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- TZubiri 2y ago0,1,2,3 That's 5
- B1FF_PSUVM 2y ago"Five is right out"
- gsck 2y agoOnce the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.
- Y_Y 2y agoThe week starts and ends on zero
- scrapcode 2y agoWhoosh
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Sohcahtoa82 1y agoThis has to be the most hilarious comment I've ever seen on HN.
- ethbr1 1y agoWell, actually...
- Izkata 2y agoI'm not sure about the "fencepost error" part, but he's thinking of days as durations rather than points. It's early in the thread, about halfway down the first page: > You don't start counting on sunday, it hasn't been a day yet, you don't start counting til monday. You can't count the day that it is, did you never take basic elementrary math? Put in other terms, TheJosh uses "Sun - Sun" as inclusive start and exclusive end, while Justin-27 uses "Sun - Sat" as inclusive start and inclusive end. I think TheJosh mixed things up when trying to explain it (durations vs inclusive/exclusive), so doubles down and comes up with weirder stuff later in the thread. I didn't read the whole thing though, stopped near the bottom of the first page.
- arvindhmani 2y agoI wanted to keep going but pages 3 onwards don't seem to be archived. Argh, back to work I guess
- Tijdreiziger 2y agoEnjoy: https://youtube.com/watch?v=teC_uksSPBU https://youtube.com/watch?v=teC_uksSPBU
- krackers 2y ago>days as durations rather than points Isn't thinking of day X as the range [midnight of X, X+1 midnight) isomoprhic to associating it with a point for X, at least for purposes of considering coverage (e.g. both approaches work to show that there are 7 days that cover a week).
- Izkata 2y agoYes, see the end of my comment: > I think TheJosh mixed things up when trying to explain it (durations vs inclusive/exclusive)
- helaoban 2y agoCan we pause and admire the sheer contagiousness of the debate? We are now extending it to the meta-realm, discussing the possible mental states that led to one or more of the original participants adopting certain lines of reasoning...
- bee_rider 2y agoActually the brain is part of the body, so it doesn’t extend into the meta realm, the debate is still about dates and body building just with a different organ.
- ryandrake 2y agoSpeaking of the meta-realm, I've always wondered how messages in forum flamewars always seemed to gravitate toward a very specific pattern: <personal insult> <the point> <bait to continue flaming> You see this pattern all over the Internet. For example, from that bodybuilding.com thread: Are you retarded? [personal insult] Maybe you should look at a calander, I didn't double count sunday, my two weeks started and ended on sunday, exactly 14 days. [the point] What don't you understand? [bait to continue flaming]
- emmelaich 2y agoThere's a related, more polite version of "are you retarded" which is not uncommon even here on HN. It is "I'm confused". I don't know whether it's a phrase that I'm over analysing, but it always comes across as disingenuous to me. The responder is never actually confused, they have a question that they should just ask.
- thinkingemote 2y ago"I really don't understand why people would think X" is another example but I think there may be some expression of non-understanding. "So retarted it doesnt make sense." Similar, "are you a n*zi" never seen here but as a simple but clever "Could you elaborate?" often as a reply to a polite but ambiguous comment. It's basically bait for the ambiguous commenter to confirm or deny the morality of their comment.
- ngruhn 2y agoMaybe I have that. I can totally solve much more complicated problems but this fencepost shit just messes with. Recently I thought last quarter ended March 1st because a quarter has 3 months and March is the third month.