Difference between revisions of "CSB Assignment Week 4"

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==Warm up==
 
==Warm up==
 
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In many London Underground tube stations there are two escalators going up but only one going down.
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Sometimes it is easy to identify gender with names, especially if the name is taken from a religious tradition. Abraham comes to mind, or Eve. So one day, in a schoolyard, Abraham is looking at Pat, and Pat is looking at Eve.
  
  
'''Why?''' <span class="mw-customtoggle-01" style="background:#F2F2FF;padding:5px;font-size:80%;margin-left:50px">[''I&nbsp;don't&nbsp;know...'']</span>
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'''Can you (reasonably) know if a boy is looking at a girl?''' <span class="mw-customtoggle-01" style="background:#F2F2FF;padding:5px;font-size:80%;margin-left:50px">[''I&nbsp;don't&nbsp;know...&nbsp;I&nbsp;mean&nbsp;I&nbsp;don't&nbsp;know&nbsp;the&nbsp;answer&nbsp;...'']</span>
  
 
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Seriously?<br />
 
Seriously?<br />
Could it have something to do with the required capacity?<br />
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You're probably uncertain about Pat: Patrick? Patricia?<br />
Then just model the expected flow. Is it symmetric?<br />
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Hm. Do you need a hint... <span class="mw-customtoggle-02" style="background:#EAEAFF;padding:5px;font-size:80%;margin-left:50px">[''Ok.&nbsp;A&nbsp;hint&nbsp;please...'']</span>
If you think so, you might need a hint... <span class="mw-customtoggle-02" style="background:#EAEAFF;padding:5px;font-size:80%;margin-left:50px">[''Ok.&nbsp;A&nbsp;hint&nbsp;please...'']</span>
 
  
 
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When do people arrive at the escalator?<span class="mw-customtoggle-03" style="background:#E2E2FF;padding:5px;font-size:80%;margin-left:50px">[''Sorry.&nbsp;I&nbsp;still&nbsp;don't&nbsp;get&nbsp;it:&nbsp;aren't&nbsp;there&nbsp;as&nbsp;many&nbsp;going&nbsp;down&nbsp;as&nbsp;coming&nbsp;up?'']</span>
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Does it matter?<span class="mw-customtoggle-03" style="background:#E2E2FF;padding:5px;font-size:80%;margin-left:50px">[''Sorry.&nbsp;Of&nbsp;course&nbsp;it&nbsp;matters&nbsp;whether&nbsp;Pat&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;girl&nbsp;or&nbsp;a&nbsp;boy&nbsp;-&nbsp;how&nbsp;could&nbsp;it&nbsp;not?'']</span>
  
 
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We'll we'd hope that the number of people going down is the same as coming up. If there were twice as many people coming up, they must have been produced in the underground - an army of tube zombies, bred in the tunnels, spreading through town to do their evil deeds...<br/>
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If you think it matters, you're both right and wrong. You're right in the sense that it makes a difference. But you're wrong that it matters for the answer: if Pat is a girl, the boy Abraham looks at a girl. But if Pat is is a boy, then he is looking at the girl Eve. So the answer is: yes, you can reasonably know that a boy is looking at a girl. Often, you just need to enumerate all possibilities...  
No: the answer has to do with how the streams of passengers distribute over time. Passengers trickle into the station at more or less a constant rate, but when a train arrives, there's a mad scramble by an impatient horde to exit the station, and for that rush the escalators need greater capacity.
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<small>Now: why "reasonably"? Well, I can't exclude that some parents named their daughter Abraham, or that they were confused about Eve ... but hey, it's just a puzzle.</small>
  
  
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Revision as of 21:19, 5 February 2016

Assignments for Week 3
Collaboration tools, initializing our project.

< Assignment 3 Assignment 5 >

Note! This assignment is currently inactive. Major and minor unannounced changes may be made at any time.

 
 

Assigned material - concepts, exercises and reading - will be reflected in next week's evaluation and feedback session. Please remember to contribute to self-evaluation questions by Tuesday at noon.


 


 


Warm up

Sometimes it is easy to identify gender with names, especially if the name is taken from a religious tradition. Abraham comes to mind, or Eve. So one day, in a schoolyard, Abraham is looking at Pat, and Pat is looking at Eve.


Can you (reasonably) know if a boy is looking at a girl? [I don't know... I mean I don't know the answer ...]

Seriously?
You're probably uncertain about Pat: Patrick? Patricia?
Hm. Do you need a hint... [Ok. A hint please...]

Does it matter?[Sorry. Of course it matters whether Pat is a girl or a boy - how could it not?]

If you think it matters, you're both right and wrong. You're right in the sense that it makes a difference. But you're wrong that it matters for the answer: if Pat is a girl, the boy Abraham looks at a girl. But if Pat is is a boy, then he is looking at the girl Eve. So the answer is: yes, you can reasonably know that a boy is looking at a girl. Often, you just need to enumerate all possibilities...

Now: why "reasonably"? Well, I can't exclude that some parents named their daughter Abraham, or that they were confused about Eve ... but hey, it's just a puzzle.




 

...TBD



 


 
That is all.


 

Footnotes and references

 



 


 
Ask, if things don't work for you!
If anything about the assignment is not clear to you, please ask on the mailing list. You can be certain that others will have had similar problems. Success comes from joining the conversation.
... are required reading.


 



< Assignment 3 Assignment 5 >