J
Justin Miller
Guest
Take an unknown glass of water and place it in front of me with the water in the glass being exactly fifty percent of the volume of water that the glass will hold. Now ask the proverbial question: Is the glass half-full or half- empty? The answer of course is unobtainable.
Who's with me?
Consider this situation:
Glass 1: 100ml glass containing 100ml of water
Glass 2: 100ml glass containing 0ml of water
Glass 3: 100ml glass containing 50ml of water
Glass 1 is as we would say "full," while glass 2 is as we would say "empty," & glass 3 is our neutral glass, as well as being the glass from the proverbial question above.
Now we take 50ml of water from glass 3, and we place it into glass 3, thus giving glasses 1-3 50ml of water each, all of which contain exactly 50% of their maximum volume of water obtainable.
Now the comes the question - is glass 1 half-full or half-empty? Glass 2? Glass 3?
The answer:
Glass 1 is half-empty, glass 2 is half-full, and glass 3, information is unobtainable from any evidence drawn.
Explanation: Glass 1 was completely full, and we were there to witness the transfer of water from glass one to glass 2, as it is full, there was only one thing that could happen - it could become less full, therefore it has beome half-empty. Glass 2 was completely empty and with the transfer of liquid, glass two became more 2, therefore the glass that was empty is now half-full. Glass 2, the knowledge is not known about the prior state of the glass. We walked into this room and there was glass 3, along with glasses 1 & 2. Was glass 3 empty before we walked into the room and someone filled it with 50ml? Was glass 3 completely full and evaporated to exactly 50ml, therefore being half-empty? We do not know. This is why one would not be able to tell whether or not a glass sitting on a table in an unknown environment would be in fact half-full, or half-empty.
Because of this, I am neither an optimist, nor a pessimist, but an anal retentive bastard who has a tendency to overanalyze everything. I'm sure there is an explanation for the way I act, I just haven't figured it out yet.
Not sure why it matters Linda Jo, but I'm a Scorpio.
Who's with me?
Consider this situation:
Glass 1: 100ml glass containing 100ml of water
Glass 2: 100ml glass containing 0ml of water
Glass 3: 100ml glass containing 50ml of water
Glass 1 is as we would say "full," while glass 2 is as we would say "empty," & glass 3 is our neutral glass, as well as being the glass from the proverbial question above.
Now we take 50ml of water from glass 3, and we place it into glass 3, thus giving glasses 1-3 50ml of water each, all of which contain exactly 50% of their maximum volume of water obtainable.
Now the comes the question - is glass 1 half-full or half-empty? Glass 2? Glass 3?
The answer:
Glass 1 is half-empty, glass 2 is half-full, and glass 3, information is unobtainable from any evidence drawn.
Explanation: Glass 1 was completely full, and we were there to witness the transfer of water from glass one to glass 2, as it is full, there was only one thing that could happen - it could become less full, therefore it has beome half-empty. Glass 2 was completely empty and with the transfer of liquid, glass two became more 2, therefore the glass that was empty is now half-full. Glass 2, the knowledge is not known about the prior state of the glass. We walked into this room and there was glass 3, along with glasses 1 & 2. Was glass 3 empty before we walked into the room and someone filled it with 50ml? Was glass 3 completely full and evaporated to exactly 50ml, therefore being half-empty? We do not know. This is why one would not be able to tell whether or not a glass sitting on a table in an unknown environment would be in fact half-full, or half-empty.
Because of this, I am neither an optimist, nor a pessimist, but an anal retentive bastard who has a tendency to overanalyze everything. I'm sure there is an explanation for the way I act, I just haven't figured it out yet.
Not sure why it matters Linda Jo, but I'm a Scorpio.