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PrecociouslyDigital / sandwich-definitions

"At some point, the Supreme Court will have to define what a sandwich is, and when they do, I want there to be math behind it"
The Unlicense
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The concept of "edible" is not well-defined within this assertion #5

Open spencerlu opened 5 years ago

spencerlu commented 5 years ago

I am allergic to peanuts, and will die if I am not given proper medical treatment after consumption. However, if given enough epinephrine and medical support, I could conceivably eat a PB&J and live. Does that count as it being edible for me?

PrecociouslyDigital commented 5 years ago

From deciusbrutus on the SSC Comments

Consider a salad containing 21% ham. Consider a salad containing 21% strips of steak. Suppose that less than 30% of the population has a dietary objection to pork, and that less than 30% of the population has a dietary objection to beef. Suppose that more than 30% of the population has either a dietary objection to pork or a dietary objection to beef. If you mix equal portions of those two salads together, you get a mixture that is 10.5% inedible by more than 30% of the population. > Since salads form a closed group over themselves, neither is a salad if the demographic suppositions about the world are true.

The definition of what a salad is depends on contingent facts about the world!