V
Ok, didn't know what else to put in the title, but here's the situation XD
I got in a (nonhateful) argument with a girl today about a certain puzzle. I am ONE HUNDRED PERCENT sure I am right, and that she is wrong. When I ask her to provide evidence for her views on the equation, she comes up with nothing, says I don't understand what she's saying, and then falls back on "Everyone in this town, my parents, ALBERT EINSTEIN, ect. sees it the way I do." However, if that's the case, they're all wrong.
I might as well throw the problem in here so you can verify what I'm talking about, but you can skip to the end to see my point- Here's the puzzle.
3 men go to a hotel. The hotel room is $30, so each man pays $10 for the night. The hotel manager notices later that night that there was a discount that day, and the room was only $25. The manager gives $5 ones to the bellboy and sends him up to the men to give their money back. However, being lazy and greedy, he just gave each man a dollar back, and kept two for himself.
In the end, the men each spend $9, since they had spent $10 and got their money back. That's $9 x 3 = $27. The bellboy has two dollars. $27 + $2 = $29. Where did the extra dollar go?!?!!
Her explanation- The dollar doesn't exist
My explanation- The equation is flawed and does not fit the circumstance. There are two separate equations being mashed together here.
There's one equation- Finding the total amount of money. In that case, you just say each man has $1, the bellboy has $2, and the hotel has $25. THAT'S the $30 you're looking for. However, when you start saying "Each man paid," you are no longer looking for the total amount of money existent, but rather the amount of money payed. 9 x 3 = 27 the men lost. You SUBTRACT the two the bellboy has to end in a result of 25 that the HOTEL has.
Those are the ONLY two equations that apply to this problem, and the equation 3*9+2 does not apply.
Anyway, the underlying concept of this thread is the hard-hardheadedness that people, especially from the south, get with things that they've heard their entire lives. Also, family has a major influence on these people, and they will disregard all logic to prove their point, and their family right. They have no way to back themselves up, but continue to cut your ideas down without consideration.
This is just a nice example of that, but I've noticed that the same applies in deeper topics, such as religious arguments. The question is- How do you handle these situations? Just presenting the facts clearly to them doesn't work, so what do you do? Do you let them go on with their wrong and twisted views, even though it's hard to do that? Or is there any hope at all towards changing their minds?
I got in a (nonhateful) argument with a girl today about a certain puzzle. I am ONE HUNDRED PERCENT sure I am right, and that she is wrong. When I ask her to provide evidence for her views on the equation, she comes up with nothing, says I don't understand what she's saying, and then falls back on "Everyone in this town, my parents, ALBERT EINSTEIN, ect. sees it the way I do." However, if that's the case, they're all wrong.
I might as well throw the problem in here so you can verify what I'm talking about, but you can skip to the end to see my point- Here's the puzzle.
3 men go to a hotel. The hotel room is $30, so each man pays $10 for the night. The hotel manager notices later that night that there was a discount that day, and the room was only $25. The manager gives $5 ones to the bellboy and sends him up to the men to give their money back. However, being lazy and greedy, he just gave each man a dollar back, and kept two for himself.
In the end, the men each spend $9, since they had spent $10 and got their money back. That's $9 x 3 = $27. The bellboy has two dollars. $27 + $2 = $29. Where did the extra dollar go?!?!!
Her explanation- The dollar doesn't exist
My explanation- The equation is flawed and does not fit the circumstance. There are two separate equations being mashed together here.
There's one equation- Finding the total amount of money. In that case, you just say each man has $1, the bellboy has $2, and the hotel has $25. THAT'S the $30 you're looking for. However, when you start saying "Each man paid," you are no longer looking for the total amount of money existent, but rather the amount of money payed. 9 x 3 = 27 the men lost. You SUBTRACT the two the bellboy has to end in a result of 25 that the HOTEL has.
Those are the ONLY two equations that apply to this problem, and the equation 3*9+2 does not apply.
Anyway, the underlying concept of this thread is the hard-hardheadedness that people, especially from the south, get with things that they've heard their entire lives. Also, family has a major influence on these people, and they will disregard all logic to prove their point, and their family right. They have no way to back themselves up, but continue to cut your ideas down without consideration.
This is just a nice example of that, but I've noticed that the same applies in deeper topics, such as religious arguments. The question is- How do you handle these situations? Just presenting the facts clearly to them doesn't work, so what do you do? Do you let them go on with their wrong and twisted views, even though it's hard to do that? Or is there any hope at all towards changing their minds?
