Oh, and just for fun...

[barnabas_truman]

This one I'm putting on the worksheet for tomorrow.

Assume that the following statements are true. Using only the laws of logic, what else can you conclude?

(A) Everyone who longs for the sea knows a lot of sea shanteys.
(B) Mr. Truman has never seen a mermaid.
(C) Anyone who has seen a mermaid longs for the sea.

Comments

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

Seeing a mermaid instantly provides you with knowledge of many sea shanteys.

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

Perhaps my logic-fu has grown weak, but all I can think of is the contrapositive to A: No one who knows lots of sea shanties does not long for the sea.

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

You must not forget the Law of Syllogism, young grasshopper!

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

Terpsichoros got that one.

[ellipticcurve.livejournal.com]

And the contrapositive to C: No one who does not long for the sea has seen a mermaid.

[snood4m4.livejournal.com]

Mr. Truman is lame

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

I used to be for a while after that nasty rock-climbing accident, but I can walk a lot better now.

[zcomm.livejournal.com]

please tell me they call you Mr. Truman in class!! lol

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

They would if Truman were my real name. I don't know; I think I might tell my classes next year that my first name is Morgan if anyone asks.

A year or two ago my parents mentioned that they had considered naming me Morgan but decided against it because then my initials would be MAD. Which is too bad, I think; "Mad Morgan" would be a great piratical nickname.

[loupyone.livejournal.com]

I believe, using only logic and not outside knowledge, that it can be concluded that:
D)Anyone who has seen a mermaid knows a lot of sea shantys.
Nothing further can be concluded about Mr. Truman.

This assumes that the terms "everyone" and "anyone" are equivalent, which I believe them to be as written.

[snood4m4.livejournal.com]

Nah, you can definitely infer that if Mr. Truman hasn't seen a mermaid yet, he hasn't truly lived! Therefore he sucks ;)

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

I can sing a great silly sea shantey about a mermaid; does that count?

'Twas a Friday morn when we set sail
And we were not far from the land
When our captain he spied a fishy mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand

(The remainder of the lyrics are left as an exercise to google)

[temperance14.livejournal.com]

Anyone who has seen a mermaid has learned a lot of sea shantys.

However, this does not mean that Mr. Truman doesn't know any sea shanties; we did not establish the knowledge of the people who have have not seen mermaids, and those who do not long for the sea.

Perhaps those who do not long for the sea know all the satirical sea shanties.

Nothing can be postulated about Mr. Truman until we examine his i-pod.

[lyahdan.livejournal.com]

I really like that last one. :)

(any use of maniacal laughter in the comment clearly demands this picture)

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

The joke's on you--I don't have an iPod! Mwahahahaha!

[raivyn.livejournal.com]

Maybe this is way wrong, but I can conclude that anyone who has seen a mermaid must know a lot of sea shanteys. I cannot conclude anything about Mr. Truman specifically, as he may well know a buttload of sea shanteys because he likes pirates or something :P

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

Nah, you aced it.

[whalejudge.livejournal.com]

These statements logically prove that Mr. Truman, who should have been working on his emergency lesson plans, is goofing off.

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

I'm teaching a geometry class by starting with a couple of weeks about logic. This is my lesson plans.

[whalejudge.livejournal.com]

Then you should probably hang out with the English teachers more often. "This is my lesson plans" is simply bad English, Mr. Truman. Even a Mathematics teacher should strive for proper grammar.

Yeah, I figured somebody would call me on that one.

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

Fine, fine. "This logic puzzle is part of a worksheet which is an important component of my lesson plans." :-p

/\/0\/\/ pH33r t3h m16|-|7y 4|2mY 0|= 84r/\/4843, /\/0085!!!!!!!112

Re: Yeah, I figured somebody would call me on that one.

[barnabas-truman.livejournal.com]

And before anyone else decides to correct me, yeah, I probably ought to have a comma between "worksheet" and "which," or else change "which" to "that."