Timeline for Why is it wrong to answer a question with a tautology? Isn't "2+2" correct when answering 'What is "2+2"'?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
37 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 1, 2023 at 21:59 | comment | added | Scott Rowe | Why is it wrong to answer a question with a tautology? Isn't "2+2" correct when answering 'What is "2+2"'? | |
| Feb 27, 2023 at 16:30 | answer | added | Plop | timeline score: 1 | |
| Nov 19, 2021 at 20:47 | comment | added | Sazzad Hissain Khan | People asks to collect new information from the answer. Tautology answer like “2+2” for question “what is 2+2?” does not reveal any new information to the questioner. So even though its a logically correct answer but rationally incorrect. | |
| Nov 15, 2021 at 6:56 | comment | added | Vandermonde | I no longer can find access to a copy, but I remember Wilf's piece "What is an Answer?" and can't help but feel it had some relevant opinions here | |
| Nov 17, 2020 at 9:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackPhilosophy/status/1328623931759136768 | ||
| Nov 12, 2020 at 21:27 | comment | added | Aubreal | Most of my math exams consisted of actions that needed to be performed, rather than questions that needed to be answered. E.g. "solve for x, where x=2+2", "derive y, where y=x^2". | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 21:05 | comment | added | Pablo H | "What is X?", for X=2+2, X=df/dx or similar, is actually a shorthand for "If you compute X, what result do you get?". Language has layers upon layers of "shorthanding". (Of course, know you can ask about "compute" and "result". Some answers and comments touch on that.) | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 20:03 | comment | added | Robbie Goodwin | Many times in what class, please? Don't you expect different Answers if that was a "hard" subject such as maths or a "soft" one like philosophy? | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 18:00 | vote | accept | user107952 | ||
| Nov 12, 2020 at 16:04 | comment | added | Eric Towers | Grading comment: "Fails to demonstrate knowledge and mastery of the material. In fact, fails to demonstrate awareness of the material. 0 points." | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 10:28 | answer | added | Tristan | timeline score: 5 | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 9:30 | comment | added | Stian | What would be the reason for the "Question" type of communicative sentences in general, if tautologies were acceptable? There is no reason to ask questions if tautologies are satisfactory. Notably, this question, can be answered that it is of course unacceptable, because it is unacceptable. To be a bit more constructive, isn't it the nature of a question which is at stake? | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 6:51 | comment | added | Rushi | ie sometimes one writes π as 3.14, sometimes as the more correct and sophisticated formulae that @kevin lists. And sometimes we leave π as π. (not to mention sometimes making pi into π as I've done or π into pi as you've 😉). IOW ppl answering condescendingly are only succeeding in displaying their ignorance of the non-triviality hiding behind the question | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 6:40 | comment | added | Rushi | More wisdom in your comment @stef than most answers so far. To use a Wittgenstein locution "the language game" played in different fields is different — even fields as close as basic arithmetic and basic algebra | |
| Nov 12, 2020 at 1:38 | comment | added | puppetsock | Heh heh. The answer is the answer to the question "Many times in class, we are asked..." | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 23:19 | comment | added | Kevin | @Stef: Ah, but there are many other formulae for calculating pi, and you might answer in terms of those. | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 21:30 | answer | added | jmoreno | timeline score: 2 | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 20:26 | answer | added | Draconis | timeline score: 2 | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 19:29 | answer | added | Eodnhoj7 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 18:21 | answer | added | 777 | timeline score: 0 | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 17:23 | comment | added | Eric Duminil | Related question: Is mathematics one big tautology? | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 12:47 | comment | added | Stef | Now I show you a circle and ask: what is the ratio of the perimeter and the diameter? The answer is Pi. Now I ask: what is Pi? The answer is: it is the ratio of the perimeter and diameter of any circle. That's circular. You could also say that Pi is approximately 3.14, but it's not exactly 3.14, so there really is no better answer than the circular "Pi is the ratio of the perimeter and the diameter, and the ratio of the perimeter and the diameter is Pi." | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 9:53 | answer | added | Floridus Floridi | timeline score: 2 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 20:20 | answer | added | wizzwizz4 | timeline score: 8 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 19:04 | answer | added | J D | timeline score: 18 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 18:59 | comment | added | TheRubberDuck | "It would not be the intended answer..." and "...technically a correct answer". It seems you're already aware there is a difference between these two. Are you asking why educators aren't more precise with their questions? Or are you asking what those intentions are? In either case, the question might fit better on Academia.SE or perhaps MathEducators.SE. | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 18:48 | comment | added | Conifold | A tautology is not a correct answer even technically. What is correct is determined by the rules of linguistic practice, class in this case, and they prescribe, in particular, that the answers must be informative and relevant, see Grice's communication maxims. Tautologies are not. The difference between two different expressions with the same referent is described by what Frege called sense, see sense and reference | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 18:34 | history | edited | J D | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
deleted 38 characters in body; edited tags; edited title
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| Nov 10, 2020 at 16:10 | answer | added | Ted Wrigley | timeline score: 3 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 15:54 | comment | added | Rushi | What you are looking for is the idea behind the technical term ground term of rewrite systems. Alternatively normal form in the lambda calculus. No it's not trivial and this is not the best SE for it. Math, CS or theoretical CS would be more helpful | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 13:48 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Nov 10, 2020 at 10:25 | review | Close votes | |||
| Nov 17, 2020 at 3:05 | |||||
| Nov 10, 2020 at 6:52 | history | edited | Mauro ALLEGRANZA |
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| Nov 10, 2020 at 6:47 | answer | added | Bumble | timeline score: 21 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 6:29 | answer | added | RodolfoAP | timeline score: 5 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 6:28 | answer | added | armand | timeline score: 19 | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 5:48 | history | asked | user107952 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |