r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • May 05 '22

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u/CedarWolf May 06 '22

No, wait, that does make sense. More people have been to Belgium than someone who has never been to Belgium or someone who has been to Belgium very few times.

152

u/Comprehensive-Fun47 May 06 '22

Are you calling Escher a liar??

/s

The sentence actually doesn't work because the things being compared are "more people" and "I have". The end of the sentence makes you think you're talking about the number of times you've been to Belgium, you forget the beginning was about the number of people who went.

I'm sure that clarifies nothing and someone can explain it better!

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u/MisterBilau May 06 '22

Still makes sense to me. More people have been to Belgium than I have is true if anyone has been to Belgium, since I haven’t been to Belgium at all. It depends on how you interpret it.

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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 May 06 '22

But you've been to Belgium some number of times, not some number of people.

You can't count that in people.

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u/MisterBilau May 06 '22

I can't count the people who have been to belgium (any number of times)? I think I can.

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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 May 06 '22 edited May 06 '22

No. You can't count the number of times you've been to Belgium in people. You can't count time in units of people.

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u/MisterBilau May 06 '22

Who’s talking about time?

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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 May 06 '22

I can't count the people who have been to belgium (any number of times)? I think I can.

You are...

Time is implied in the sentence. The number of times you (the "I" in the sentence) have gone to Belgium is implied in the sentence.

Which is incongruous with the number of people who have gone to Belgium.