Full Puzzle Short Story

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Kane Jiang
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Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Kane Jiang »

One day God had a task for an angel. God told the angel to write Him an essay about the weather. God said He wanted it to be perfect.

So, the angel took heed of God's command and took out his pen and paper and began writing at the speed of light. As a matter of fact, he did everything in the fastest possible speed.

While writing, God was watching him. When the angel was finished, he handed the paper to God.

God said, "This essay is perfect, but you could have done better."

What did God mean by the second part of that sentence? (the answer is below)
















The answer is the angel wrote the essay perfectly and he did it with perfect speed, but he did not write the words in the essay in perfect order.

This is a sentence.

For example, he could have written the above sentence at "a" first, then move his pen back and wrote "This is" then move his pen to the end and write "sentence". Yes, order may affect speed, but the story says he did everything in the fastest possible speed so this is just a story to test your intellect.

If you got it without cheating, hats off to you. If you understand it, great. I posted this story on another writing forum and only 1/4 even understood it! One said it was faulty logic (he said if something is perfect, it can't be done better, which is a DUH) while the one that understood it said it made perfect sense to him.

I cannot believe so many people did not understand it on that forum and not only that, but they told me it was a bad story and/or faulty logic (LOL). Is the crowd completely different?
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dawwg
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by dawwg »

It (the weather) can be said to be perfect here and there with a little tilt of the axis for variation. "Perfect" then could include variation, the degree of which some may not agree with. Who can judge what is right therefor? But I'm sure your example is within the bounds of perfection.
Kane Jiang
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Kane Jiang »

dawwg wrote: August 13th, 2019, 6:56 pm It (the weather) can be said to be perfect here and there with a little tilt of the axis for variation. "Perfect" then could include variation, the degree of which some may not agree with. Who can judge what is right therefor? But I'm sure your example is within the bounds of perfection.
It doesn’t matter what perfect here means. The story only uses the definition of perfection as something that can’t be improved. The story is actually rigidly concrete. What do you mean by the last sentence?
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dawwg
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by dawwg »

The Agnostic questions the perfection of a Creation that would have us all existing in perfect accord, but the initiate concedes that meaning stems from a higher order of mind in which we are perfectly balanced in accord with our natures, hence your perfection.
Kane Jiang
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Kane Jiang »

I actually asked my uncle who has a PhD in mathematics in Princeton and was a professor there about the story and he agrees with me it is logically concrete. I’ll just assume we disagree dawwg, that you think it’s open to interpretation and at least 4 people who I met in real life don’t.
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Hereandnow
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Hereandnow »

Kane Jiang
The answer is the angel wrote the essay perfectly and he did it with perfect speed, but he did not write the words in the essay in perfect order.

This is a sentence.

For example, he could have written the above sentence at "a" first, then move his pen back and wrote "This is" then move his pen to the end and write "sentence". Yes, order may affect speed, but the story says he did everything in the fastest possible speed so this is just a story to test your intellect.

If you got it without cheating, hats off to you. If you understand it, great. I posted this story on another writing forum and only 1/4 even understood it! One said it was faulty logic (he said if something is perfect, it can't be done better, which is a DUH) while the one that understood it said it made perfect sense to him.

I cannot believe so many people did not understand it on that forum and not only that, but they told me it was a bad story and/or faulty logic (LOL). Is the crowd completely different?

Why oh why would God tell the angel that her essay is perfect if it was simply written fast? Why is the speed of light impressive to God, that is, what merits does speed have such a place as where God and angels live? After all, speed as such has no value at all. It is only valuable in a context where speed is important, like a race. God said nothing about the standard of assessing the essay having anything to do with speed.

How does this test one's intellect? All one has to do is acknowledge that speed does not imply unqualified perfect.
Kane Jiang
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Joined: August 8th, 2019, 5:28 am

Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Kane Jiang »

Because the essay itself is perfectly written. God said the angel could’ve done better, which here actually means the process could have been better, not the final product. However, wouldn’t you agree that writing it faster is better in terms of process than taking say 1 billion years? The answer is order because it’s the only thing left that could change, the only free will that the angel could’ve messed up on after speed and the essay is taken out of the equation.
Kane Jiang
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Joined: August 8th, 2019, 5:28 am

Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Kane Jiang »

Hereandnow wrote:Why oh why would God tell the angel that her essay is perfect if it was simply written fast?
We are just supposed to assume the essay is perfect since God said it was perfect, not because it was simply written fast.
Hereandnow wrote:God said nothing about the standard of assessing the essay having anything to do with speed.
The part where God says "you could have done better" is actually meant to trip you up. It is intentionally vague, but leaves it possible for the process to be better. Since God already said the essay is perfect, the essay itself can't be done better. So to answer your question, God assessed the essay and it was perfect and it had nothing to do with speed, which is a part of the process, not the final product.
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Hereandnow
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Hereandnow »

Well, Kane Jiang, I suppose I have been properly tripped up. I don't even see the point of it. Seems blatantly contradictory. Is that the point?
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Sculptor1
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Sculptor1 »

Kane Jiang wrote: August 8th, 2019, 7:03 am One day God had a task for an angel. God told the angel to write Him an essay about the weather. God said He wanted it to be perfect.

So, the angel took heed of God's command and took out his pen and paper and began writing at the speed of light. As a matter of fact, he did everything in the fastest possible speed.

While writing, God was watching him. When the angel was finished, he handed the paper to God.

God said, "This essay is perfect, but you could have done better."

What did God mean by the second part of that sentence? (the answer is below)
















The answer is the angel wrote the essay perfectly and he did it with perfect speed, but he did not write the words in the essay in perfect order.

This is a sentence.

For example, he could have written the above sentence at "a" first, then move his pen back and wrote "This is" then move his pen to the end and write "sentence". Yes, order may affect speed, but the story says he did everything in the fastest possible speed so this is just a story to test your intellect.

If you got it without cheating, hats off to you. If you understand it, great. I posted this story on another writing forum and only 1/4 even understood it! One said it was faulty logic (he said if something is perfect, it can't be done better, which is a DUH) while the one that understood it said it made perfect sense to him.

I cannot believe so many people did not understand it on that forum and not only that, but they told me it was a bad story and/or faulty logic (LOL). Is the crowd completely different?
I think "perfect", is meaningless, or has to be a relative quality. God would have had to say in what way, exactly, he wanted it perfect. Since we do not have the essay in evidence it is not possible to say if it conforms to any quality of perfection. Since you have described the essay as "written" then we also have a problem, since nothing can be written at the speed of light. In fact only light can go at the speed of light.
What about the weather? What was on God's mind? Whatever species of perfection he had in mind about the weather is unknown, and was not communicated to the angel.
The trouble with this, as well as most hypotheticals, is you have to suspend reason to accept it. This one is so full of holes that it is just absurd.
Your description is also ambiguous. Are you saying that what the angel gave to God was not in the right order? Or are you saying that it was not written in the right order, though presented correctly?
Either way, it would not matter a jot how it was written as long as the essay conveyed meaning the qualities of the essay would not be different. If the essay were not presented in the right order, then the meaning would be lost.
As far as it goes, if it were possible to write a perfect essay it would not matter if the essay were written backwards as long as the meaning were clear.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Sculptor1 »

Hereandnow wrote: August 14th, 2019, 8:39 am Well, Kane Jiang, I suppose I have been properly tripped up. I don't even see the point of it. Seems blatantly contradictory. Is that the point?
Most reasonable, thinking people are scratching their heads, but conclude the same, that it is a poorly devised puzzle.
Kane Jiang
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Kane Jiang »

Sculptor1 wrote: Since you have described the essay as "written" then we also have a problem, since nothing can be written at the speed of light. In fact only light can go at the speed of light.
It is a logic story, not a philosophical one. If you accept what is in the story as canon, then it makes sense in a logical way.
Sculptor1 wrote:As far as it goes, if it were possible to write a perfect essay it would not matter if the essay were written backwards as long as the meaning were clear.
But if it is the only thing left to matter, then it would be the answer. Speed and the essay being perfect are supposed to be taken out of the equation.
Sculptor1 wrote: Are you saying that what the angel gave to God was not in the right order? Or are you saying that it was not written in the right order, though presented correctly?
Didn't I say it was not written in the right order? The second one.
Sculptor1 wrote:Most reasonable, thinking people are scratching their heads, but conclude the same, that it is a poorly devised puzzle.
It could be a fantasy story. Whenever you have a puzzle story like this, you accept the story as canon to suspend disbelief so the logic makes sense. The point of the story is to form a relationship between speed, order, and the final product of any job, concepts that aren't mathematical yet concrete.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Sculptor1 »

Kane Jiang wrote: August 14th, 2019, 10:27 am
Sculptor1 wrote: Since you have described the essay as "written" then we also have a problem, since nothing can be written at the speed of light. In fact only light can go at the speed of light.
It is a logic story, not a philosophical one. If you accept what is in the story as canon, then it makes sense in a logical way.
You are just compounding your crime here.
Sculptor1 wrote:As far as it goes, if it were possible to write a perfect essay it would not matter if the essay were written backwards as long as the meaning were clear.
But if it is the only thing left to matter, then it would be the answer. Speed and the essay being perfect are supposed to be taken out of the equation.
You are not addressing the issue.
Sculptor1 wrote: Are you saying that what the angel gave to God was not in the right order? Or are you saying that it was not written in the right order, though presented correctly?
Didn't I say it was not written in the right order? The second one.
How?
Sculptor1 wrote:Most reasonable, thinking people are scratching their heads, but conclude the same, that it is a poorly devised puzzle.
It could be a fantasy story. Whenever you have a puzzle story like this, you accept the story as canon to suspend disbelief so the logic makes sense. The point of the story is to form a relationship between speed, order, and the final product of any job, concepts that aren't mathematical yet concrete.
[/quote]
Sadly there is no logic sense in anyway.
And there is no paradox. Just nonsense.
There is obviously some hidden assumption in your head that you are failing to mention. An assumption not held by others, and that does not indicate a failing on their part but a failing on your part to try to explain what you are trying to convey.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by Sculptor1 »

Kane Jiang wrote: August 13th, 2019, 10:09 pm Because the essay itself is perfectly written. God said the angel could’ve done better, which here actually means the process could have been better, not the final product. However, wouldn’t you agree that writing it faster is better in terms of process than taking say 1 billion years? The answer is order because it’s the only thing left that could change, the only free will that the angel could’ve messed up on after speed and the essay is taken out of the equation.
Nothing you are typing satisfies any question people have of you.
It is like you are either clinically insane or you are failing to mention something.

So PLEASE say exactly how a perfect letter could have been "done better"!

I said PLEASE, but i think I am going to be disappointed.
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dawwg
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Re: Full Puzzle Short Story

Post by dawwg »

"The answer is order because it’s the only thing left that could change, the only free will that the angel could’ve messed up on after speed and the essay is taken out of the equation."

Essay was perfect, speed was perfect, but the order in which it was composed could have been improved.

I think we have the makings of Catholic/Protestant joke.
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