I hate how you are downvoted for an accurate statement. I love math, but I've come to understand from a teacher's perspective how accurate your statement can be. I liked your insight.
I’m not one of the downvoters but I suspect he’s being downvoted for an inability (or refusal) to think in hypotheticals for the sake of an interesting problem. It gives the impression of someone who so dislikes thought exercises or is too insecure about their ability to solve them that they prefer to ruin them with silly objections about practicality.
No, what I think he is highlighting is how people not interested in math approach a problem like this. I asked my girl friend this question on the way home from our Mother's Day dinner, and she had a very similar statement. It says something about how mathematicians could improve on their analogies, not whether he is interested in solving a math problem. I found it insightful even if it was not directly tied to the "correct" speech on Hacker News.
That's not what this is about though. It's about sparking interest in math, and many on here are showing exactly why math people can me off putting for non math people.
It doesn’t really have anything to do with math. It’s problem solving. I’m pretty sure the legendary farmer who had to get his fox and chicken across the river never actually existed, but the point of the problem is to be a framework for using your brain, not an actual attempt to help a farmer with a real dilemma.
Maybe someone doesn’t enjoy these types of problems, but objecting based on the obviously-contrived premise not being realistic just makes them look dumb.
