Definitely a repost, but it fits the season

  • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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    29 days ago

    Yup, that’s my interpretation too. It just doesn’t sit well with all the other operators.

    All the others are phrased as direct questions about the values of A and B:

    • A AND B = “Are A and B both true?”
    • A OR B = “Are either A or B true, or both?”
    • A NAND B = “Is (A AND B) not true?”
    • A IMPLIES B = “Is it possible, hypothetically speaking, for it to be the case that A implies B, given the current actual values of A and B?”

    You see the issue?

    Edit: looking online, some people see it as: “If A is true, take the value of B.” A implies that you should take the value of B. But if A is false, you shouldn’t take the value of B, instead you should use the default value which is inexplicably defined to be true for this operation.

    This is slightly more satisfying but I still don’t like it. The implication (ha) that true is the default value for a boolean doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t even feel comfortable with a boolean having a default value, let alone it being true instead of false which would be more natural.

    Edit 2: fixed a brain fart for A NAND B

    • Klear@quokk.au
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      29 days ago

      Consider the implication to be some claim, for example, “When it’s raining (A), it’s wet (B)”. The value of the implication tells us whether we should call the claimant a liar or. So in case it’s raining (A = true) and is is not wet (B = false) the claim turns out to be false, so the value of the implication is false.

      Now, supposing it is not raining (A = false). It doesn’t matter whether it’s wet or not, we can’t call the claim false because there just isn’t enough information.

      It’s about falsifiability (or lack thereof, in case A is never true).