It is perfectly valid to use an assumption you know to be false in a proof if there is only one conclusion that can be reached from said assumption, and the assumption is the only way to reach that conclusion, then you would have disproven such a conclusion. For example, suppose we know A and B to be true, and C could…

That you can only ever be sure about 2 dragons, you and one looking at you. Trying to include assumptions about what a third dragon sees as it relates to you or dragon 2 is impossible because you know what dragon 3 sees (that dragon 2 has green eyes). So he may as well be dragon 2 again, you're back where you started.…

The best example I can come up with is a choice with replacement/repetition example (that I can't quite conceptually link to the dragon case, but I'm working on it in my head).

Also, as you said why should they have to wait till the 100th day when the 99th confirms what they already knew, that there are 99 green eyed dragons. At the very least this should cut a day off the wait time.

Honestly I'm leading towards a quantum mechanical solution right now relying on indistinguishable particles. Similar to how every electron is the same so any math we apply to them must acknowledge that I can't ever know which electron is which.

Honestly I'm leading towards a quantum mechanical solution right now relying on indistinguishable particles. Similar to how every electron is the same so any math we apply to them must acknowledge that I can't ever know which electron is which.

http://xkcd.com/solution.html

You've probably already seen that, but he at least mentions my main qualm with the problem in question number 2 even if he doesn't address it.

*there

I am a grad student with a BS in Math and MS in Physics, working on a Phd. I am not saying this makes me correct but I am at least qualified to challenge the solution, which is credit that people on this post seem not to be giving to others who do the same. Now, from my perspective this problem is quantum mechanical,…

HA! IT DOESN'T WORK FROM THE BOTTOM EITHER BECAUSE OF INDISTINGUISHABILITY! Assuming with 2 dragons works, because 1 green eyed dragon would see only one other green eyed dragon, and the other 99 dragons besides himself are distinguishable (well, the one green eyed is distinguishable from the 98 blue eyed, which is…

I see why this falls apart, the assumption of dragon 99, that dragon 98 also assumes he has blue eyes is *actually* dragon 100's assumption. It is what dragon 100 assumes that 99 assumes. So even though 100 assumes that 99 assumes that 98 assumes, 100 know that 98 CAN'T follow the assumption further because 98 sees…

I'm working through an argument in my head that depends on distinguishability. If all green eyed dragons are indistinguishable then I think after night three the argument breaks down, even counting up from 1 instead of down from 100, because after 2 the dragons are indistinguishable and their assumptions and knowledge…

I at least agree that you're right, you can't follow it from 100 down because after 98 would require an assumption on the part of the third dragon that the first and second dragons both know already is not true. The 100th dragon can assume that the 99th dragon assumes there are 98 dragons, but that is as far as their…

To solve this problem you have to take three cases and identify what they know.

in buying a preowned car right now and my brother owns a dealership on the opposite coast. He went on some dealer auction site not for the public and found out exactly what my desired car has sold for all over the country. Apparently all dealerships go to auctions, not just the shady ones.

but most people have to finance for that much money so finding a buyer takes a lot more time and effort, especially if your car is too old to be financed for a private party bank loan.

on my first car note I got a rate of 7.75 percent from capital one because I have several accounts with them (IRA, Visa, stock, checking) and I knew I was lucky to get it with my credit. The dealer convinced me to let them try and beat it so I consented to a credit check. The best they ended up getting was ~15%, and I…

He doesn't deserve such a detailed explanation. It's your fucking column and you can write what you want. When he has his own column he can do the same.

I think it's a little too late for the 'write a stern letter' strategy of attack in the present battle with police in which the public seems unwittingly engaged. If this is some civil disobedience to draw attention to the problem then I am all for it and I won't question his methods. On the other hand I agree with you…

The difference between hipsters and true counterculture is that they are contrary for its own sake with no underlying ideology of human betterment.