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When you keep presenting a supposedly unsolvable problem to people who don't know it, then you might get lucky. George Dantzig was one such person. He arrived
by Casseres 13y ago
When you keep presenting a supposedly unsolvable problem to people who don't know it, then you might get lucky. George Dantzig was one such person. He arrived late to class, saw some problems on the board, assumed they were homework, and solved them. He wasn't constrained by the common thought that these were "unsolvable".
- georgecmu 13y agoThey were not "unsolvable", they were simply not solved yet (at the time Dantzig saw them on the blackboard). http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp
- benaiah 13y agoDid you read the comment? He said they were considered unsolvable at the time, not that they were unsolvable. Of course they're solvable - they were solved.
- georgecmu 13y agoThat is precisely my point. They were not considered "unsolvable" (i.e. impossible to solve), they were considered "unsolved" (i.e. not solved yet) and were presented as such. Do you really need me to explain distinctions in meaning here?