this post was submitted on 06 May 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 week ago (3 children)

The question is malformed and the correct answer isn't listed in the multiple choices. Therefore the correct answer is 0%

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is a paradox, and I don't think there is a correct answer, at least not as a letter choice. The correct answer is to explain the paradox.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You can rationalize your way to exclude all but a last answer, there by making it the right answer.

Like, seeing as there are two 25% options, so there aren't four different answers, which means there isn't a 25% chance. This lead to there only being two options left 50% or 60%. This would seem to make 50% the right answer, but it's not, because you know the options, so it's not random, which in turn means you're not guessing. So you have more that 50% chance of choosing the right answer. So 60% is the closest to a right answer, by bullshitting and gaslighting yourself into thinking you solved question.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 week ago (4 children)

It's 0%, because 0% isn't on the list and therefore you have no chance of picking it. It's the only answer consistent with itself. All other chances cause a kind of paradox-loop.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's probably graded by a computer, and a) or d) is a fake answer, since the automated system doesn't support multiple right answers.

I'm going to go with 25% chance if picking random, and a 50% chance if picking between a) and d).
If it's graded by a human, the correct answer is f) + u)

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Many systems do allow multiple correct answers.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

how many roads must a man walk down?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

C, which means A or D, which means C, which means...

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago

This seems like a version of the Liar paradox. Assume "this statement is false" is true. Is the statement true or false?

There are a bunch of ways to break the paradox, but they all require using a system that doesn't allow it to exist. For example, a system where truth is a percentage so a statement being 50% true is allowed.

For this question, one way to break the paradox would be to say that multiple choice answers must all be unique and repeated answers are ignored. Using that rule, this question only has the answers a) 25%, b) 60%, and c) 50%, and none of them are correct. There's a 0% chance of getting the correct answer.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

50/50, you either guess it right or you dont

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If you suppose a multiple choice test MUST ONLY have one correct answer:

  1. Eliminate duplicate 25% answers

  2. You are left with 60% and 50% as potential answers to this question.

  3. C is the answer

If you were to actually select an answer at random to this question while believing the above, you would have a 50% chance of answering 25%.

It is obvious to postulate that: for all multiple choice questions with no duplicate answers, there is a 25% chance of selecting the correct answer.

However as you can see, in order to integrate the answer being C with the question itself, we have to destroy the constraints of the solution and treat the duplicate 25% answers as one sum correct answer.

Do you choose to see the multiple choice answer space as an expression of the infinite space of potential free form answers? Was the answer to the question itself an expression of multiple choice probability or was it the answer from the free form answer space condensed into the multiple choice answer space?

The question demonstrates arriving at different answers between inductive and deductive reasoning. The answer depends on whether we are taking the answers and working backwards or taking the question and working forwards. The question itself forces the inductive reasoning strategy to falter at the duplicate answers, leading to deductive reasoning being the remaining strategy. Some may choose to say "there is no answer" in the presence of needing to answer a question that only has an answer because we are forced to pick one option, and otherwise would be invalid. Some may choose to point out it is obviously a paradox.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The answer is not available. The answer is 0 Percent. Each answer, if chosen, would be incorrect. If 0% was an answer, it would be the correct one despite being a 25% chance. Of course, if one 25% was there, that would be the correct answer.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (7 children)

But if you did randomly choose the 0% option, you'd be correct. So if one of the possible answers was 0% the correct answer would be 25%.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Paradoxes aside, if you're given multiple choices without the guarantee that any of them are correct, you can't assign a chance of picking the right one at random anyway.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What's the correct value if the answer is not picked at random but the test takers can choose freely?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

All answers are correct then.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This only produces a paradox if you fall for the usual fallacy that "at random" necessarily means "with uniform probability".

For example, I would pick an answer at random by rolling a fair cubic die and picking a) if it rolls a 1, b) on a 2, d) on a 3 or c) otherwise so for me the answer is c) 50%.

However, as it specifies that you are to pick at random the existence, uniqueness and value of the correct answer depends on the specific distribution you choose.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I see 25% twice so my bet is on 50%.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago

But 50% only appears once, which would make the answer 25%.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)
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