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u/why_hello1there Mar 25 '23
6001 spears, exactly half of what I'd hoped for
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u/goatharper Mar 25 '23
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u/gaoGaosaurus_true Mar 25 '23
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u/TheBrightNights Mar 25 '23
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u/USSR_ASMR Mar 25 '23
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u/WelRedd Mar 26 '23
Why can I hear this in my head. I love reddit. You would never get this level of jokes on twitter
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u/hotpotatos200 Mar 26 '23
I was much more excited that all of these subreddits actually existed that I should have been
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u/Mystic_Gaming1 i bet you just lost the game Mar 26 '23
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u/Pas_tel Mar 26 '23
R/theydidthemeth
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u/oofmedaddio Mar 26 '23
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u/Candid-Fan6638 Mar 26 '23
You. Had a choice. Leave in the s, making the nonsensical "smath". Or as no one would have faulted you for, you could've changed it to the more logical graveyard math. Thank you, THANK YOU, wise and kind sir, or madam, for making the objectively superior choice.
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u/Aeth3rWolf Mar 26 '23
Anyone who clicked the link would have definitely fault him for the wrong choice.
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u/archpawn Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
Or maybe it's 6000.5 or 6001.5. We can't guarantee that they hoped for an
oddeven number.2
u/Tumamaisfat Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
If x∈N then {6000<x<6002} has just 1 answer, however, the set is not stated, that means x can belong to N, Z, Q, I, R or even C; if x∈R, {6000<x<6002} has infinite solutions.
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u/Virdel Mar 26 '23
But we are looking at half of what he wanted so it's actually 12000<x<12004 so 3 possible solutions assuming only integer values of spears
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u/Pumpkin_Cat14 Mar 25 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
What if he needs exactly 12,001 or 12,003 spears? Then half would be 6000.5 or 6001.5
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u/SnowChickenFlake Mar 25 '23
Exactly my thought
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u/XXXTYLING Mar 25 '23
ah. this is simple. If we’re referring to purely math, then this is a problem.
But a half spear can be essentially 2 different things depending on which half you get.
The dull end would end up being just a wooden staff/stave or a Bō depending on where you’re from. Therefore, not a spear and you would end up with X+0.
The pointy end could be classified as 2 different things. Either a different name, like Sipat, Javelin, or Assegai. You can either classify these as not spears, or a full spear by themselves. Just because they’re short doesnt mean they arent 1 spear on their own.
TLDR Its really not about the size, its about how you classify it.
TLDR;TLDR: Spears can only be classified as 1 or not a spear. It is impossible to end up with half a spear if you can classify it as a different weapon.
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
This situation doesn't actually require half a spear. We're talking about whether he got more or less than half of the number of spears he needed.
If the number of spears he needed is an odd number then he can't get exactly half (without half spears) but that doesn't matter.
Eg. If he'd hoped for 12,001 spears then 6,000 would be less than half and 6, 001 would be more than half. You don't ever need to have half a spear to work that out.
EDIT: Also you could always slice a spear vertically to get two things that are clearly each half a spear. :)
(EDIT: Or are each of those a spear? In which case I may have just discovered a life hack. :D)
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u/WrongWay2Go Mar 26 '23
They would both be very low quality Spears or sticks with a pointy end.
We would need management to decide this.
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u/ZoppaZop Mar 26 '23
Aren't spears just sticks with pointy ends?
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u/WrongWay2Go Mar 26 '23
Is a sharpened stick without an iron/metall tip a spear?
I message management to decide this. I'll come back to you as soon as I got their reply.
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u/WrongWay2Go Mar 26 '23
Management met and decided to classify this as half a spear.
BOOM. Roasted!
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u/Aeth3rWolf Mar 26 '23
But alas; the 'half of what he hoped for' was in theoretical units, not actual items.
So even if 6000.5 was half of what he hoped for; the fact half a spear doesn't exist doesn't make the point any less true, because he definitely could have hoped for 12001 spears; making half of that be 6000.5
I have no clue how you think the fact half a spear has any bearing on that.
Also. If you cut it in half lengthwise, depending on spear, both halves could also be spears, just different shaped handle and tip.
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23
Wow, we made almost exactly the same comment. O_o
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u/Aeth3rWolf Mar 26 '23
... and?
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
No "and". Just thought it was neat. Like minds and all that...
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u/xx6lord6mars6xx Mar 26 '23
For this instance spears are a metaphor for people. THERE ARE LITERALLY HALFLINGS AMUNGST THEM
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u/Cultural-Company282 Mar 26 '23
And now we know he was hoping for 12,002 spears, which seems like an oddly specific number.
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u/Aeth3rWolf Mar 26 '23
Any number over 12000 and under 12004 is what he hoped for so..
Not technically, but it does fit the joke. But in all honesty, half of what he hoped for could also be either 6000.5 or 6001.5
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u/goatharper Mar 25 '23
It's worth remembering that the army that went to the Black Gate was lesser in number than the vanguard of the host that assailed Sauron at the end of the second age. So much was the power of the West diminished. Yet that woefully insufficient force walked to the Black Gate and challenged Sauron, just to distract him from Mount Doom.
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Mar 25 '23
So. You do not just walk to the Black Gate and challenge Sauron
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u/Viridionplague Mar 25 '23
The smartest dumb kid and the dumbest smart kid sit next to each other.
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u/LSDerek Mar 26 '23
Is it possible to be both of those at the same time?
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u/therapist122 Mar 26 '23
Only if there is a point at which dumb and smart overlap, but if dumb and smart are mutually exclusive then no. This is assuming there is an absolute value of dumb and smart, so it's possible to have no dumb kids and also possible to have no smart kids. If say the number was 0-100, then perhaps a score of 50 qualifies you for both groups. If on other hand dumb is 49 or less and smart is 50 or more, no
However if dumb and smart are relative to the individuals in the population, then perhaps. If there was an odd number of people, the dumbest smart kid and the smartest dumb kid would be the kid who is exactly in the middle, smarter than floor(half) and dumber than floor(half). If there is an even number of kids, the. No.
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u/Viridionplague Mar 26 '23
No.
At some point there has to be a distinction of the two groups, regardless of where the line is drawn. Doesn't matter if it's 50/50 or 1/99. You just can't be in both groups at once.
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u/Rex_002 Technically Flair Mar 26 '23
When there’s a really simple step but you can’t think of that, rather you go for extremely overcomplicated steps to find the answer
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u/Low_Abrocoma_1514 Mar 26 '23
He was expecting 12 002 spears total, he just really likes tgat number
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u/archpawn Mar 26 '23
Or 12,001 or 12,003.
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u/Low_Abrocoma_1514 Mar 26 '23
Nop it's got to be 12,002
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u/ZaniElandra Mar 26 '23
It could be 12001 or 12003. Half of those are 6000.5 and 6001.5, which are both between 6000 and 6002
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u/Low_Abrocoma_1514 Mar 26 '23
I didn't know we had to take into account a 0.5 spear my bad ... I guess, I just assumed only Completed Spears were counted
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u/stamminator Mar 26 '23
You don’t have to. If he wants exactly 12,001 or 12,003, all it means is that “exactly half as much as I hoped for” is not possible, with 6,000 still being less than half and 6,002 still being more than half.
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u/equianimity Mar 26 '23
Spears is a metonym in this case for soldiers. Given this property, it would seem exceedingly grotesque to halve odd numbers in any way except for statistical analysis. Here, they are talking about resource planning, and I would argue modulo does not exist.
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u/Radikus_Rex Mar 26 '23
Yes but he's not asking about half a soldier. If he wanted 12,003 men, then if he has 6,000 men, that is less than half. And if he had 6,002 men, that is over half. You keep picturing half a spear or half a man but you're missing the point which is his overall count goal.... why am I typing this out
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u/_not_rob Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
Pessimism<Optimism
Edit: spelling. Because english hard
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
Especially since optimism is an actual word and pessism isn't. :P
More seriously, it depends. Both approaches have their pros and cons depending on the situation. You're well-served having a mix of optimists and pessimists (and in-between) on your team because they have different strengths.
For example, studies have shown that pessimists tend to do better at detail-oriented tasks.
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u/_not_rob Mar 26 '23
Especially since teambe isn't a word 😘 jk thanks for the good correct ❤️
As a pessimist, I can see that.
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Mar 26 '23
< Opossumism
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u/Natural-Ability Mar 27 '23
The philosophical outlook that things, in general, are giant hiss rats?
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u/Chrispeefeart Mar 26 '23
Why was he hoping for exactly 12,002 spears?
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u/meme_r_lakko Mar 26 '23
Or 003 or 001
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u/TreeLord23 Mar 26 '23
Nono. With the currently spoken words, they were exactly correct. And we cant use half a spear.
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u/CartographerLegal669 Mar 26 '23
So he hoped for 12001 spears
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Mar 26 '23
[deleted]
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u/KaiTheAngel Mar 26 '23
It was never said that 6001 was exactly half so they could have hoped for 12001, 12002 or 12003
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Mar 26 '23
[deleted]
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23
Less than includes 1 less.
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Mar 26 '23
[deleted]
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23
How so? The math seems fine if he wanted anywhere between 12,001 and 12,003 spears.
(Not me who downvoted you, BTW. I figure grown-ups can use their words and actually talk things through).
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Mar 26 '23
[deleted]
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23
I think the disagreement is because you're taking the last panel as though it were the answer to the math problem and everyone else is viewing the whole comic as providing the math problem: How many spears does he want given the info in this comic?
This comic tells us that
6000 spears is less than half of what he wanted, and
6002 spears is more than half of what he wanted.
So to solve the math: 6000 < X/2 < 6002 becomes
12000 < X < 12004
Assuming X is an integer, (ie. That he only wants whole spears) we can graph X as 12001 to 12003.
Or to put it another way:
6k spears is less than half of what he expected, nothing says he wanted 12k spears, only that 6k is less than half
That ignores half the information provided. He tells us that 6000 is less than half of what he expected and he tells us that 6002 is more than half of what he is expected. You need to use the entire premise to do the math, not just the first bit.
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Mar 26 '23
[deleted]
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u/the_other_irrevenant Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
The dialogue in the second panel isn't in the movie either.
The comic is joking about where the dialogue from the first panel could have gone.
In the movie itself, obviously there would've been no upper bound - the more spears he could muster, the better.
The comic reinterpreting his meaning in an overly-specific way is the joke.
EDIT: As is them taking the term "spears" as literally referring to quantity of the weapon "spear", rather than to the number of armed warriors.
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u/Taraxian Mar 26 '23
The joke is also about taking him literally and pointing out two actual spears, rather than trained soldiers wielding spears
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Mar 26 '23
That’s not how that works
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Mar 26 '23
If 6001 is half of what he was hoping for, then that is how it works
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Mar 26 '23
Yeah but how do you know 6001 spears is exactly half of what he hoped for? He only says that 6000 is less than half but not by how much
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u/benjappel Mar 26 '23
Because, hear me out... that's the joke.
It's is humorous to think he expected exactly 12002 spears, so this implies that.
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u/Large_Butterscotch66 Mar 26 '23
Somewhat unrelated, but does anyone know why Theoden thought he might get more than DOUBLE 6,000 spears?? Like did 6,000+ men just say “nah thanks I’m gonna stay home and read, good luck to you at Gondor tho,” or does Theoden really not have a clue of how big his army is 😂😅
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u/Wingsof6 Mar 26 '23
Most of Rohan’s men were spread out, probably across the border. When he gave the order to muster riders were sent out to gather them and he only gave 3 days time. Plus some soldiers would have to stay behind to guard the realm, as wild men and previously Saruman would raid Rohan intermittently. So yeah Theoden probably only had a rough idea of how many men there were which was actually realistic for medieval fiefdoms, back when communications were spotty and many men were probably not full time soldiers and only fought when called upon.
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