Re: NULLs: theoretical problems?
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 09:33:16 -0700
Message-ID: <1188059596.527442.50950_at_q3g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
On Aug 25, 2:05 am, JOG <j..._at_cs.nott.ac.uk> wrote:
> Achilles: Look tortoise, I've been given a big bag of apples. Yum.
> Tortoise: Wow thats, great. How many yellow bananas are in there?
> Achilles: Eh? What sort of question is that?
> Tortoise: Look, stop hogging the fruit. Do you have a yellow banana in
> there? True or False?
> Achilles: Well, er.. false of course.
> Tortoise: [forlorn] Oh, I see. Erm... well a banana of a different
> colour then! True or False?
> Achilles: [sighing] false, again I'm afraid.
> Tortoise: HA! Impossible!
> Achilles: What on earth are you on about!
> Tortoise: I have you, you dishonest scoundrel. Everyone clearly knows
> that bananas are either yellow or non-yellow.
Just in case this was too abstract for you V.J. - the apples were the propositions, the bag was the set, and the question of whether there were yellow bananas or not was analogous to asking whether "they contained an age 10 or over" (x or not x). Received on Sat Aug 25 2007 - 18:33:16 CEST