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xxxx
7y

😯😯😯

Comments
  • 5
  • 12
    @irene Usually the two actions are exclusive. People mostly say "or" while *presenting* exclusive choices.
  • 12
    @xxxx @irene
    As Irene said, it heavily depends on context. Although I can't think of a scenario where you would actually mean both as well, without saying "X or Y or both".

    XOR as OR sounds like a fair enough statement for most cases
  • 5
    Well this is just incorrect. According to Boolean algebra, this is right, but not the English language.
  • 6
    want cheese or Nutella?

    hehe :p
  • 6
    @BitFlipped I don't think the purpose of the tweet was to say that English speakers are "wrong". It's just an interesting distinction between how we can use the same word in two different ways. 😊
  • 3
    @xxxx There are many words like this, like "we" for example.

    But I still disagree with the post. He is saying that the correct way to do this, in the English language, is say xor, which is wrong
  • 3
    @BitFlipped Haha no. Nobody uses XOR in English. :)
  • 1
    I cant realy see a boolean operation in the question. It is more of a conditional branch isn't it?
  • 3
    Depending on the situation. But "either this or that" is likely to mean XOR, and even more so when "either" or "or" are slightly emphasized.

    (note that 'or' above is logical OR)
  • 6
    In most (programming) languages that I know, OR statements are evaluated sequentially, and the first condition to pass is the one that falls through, the rest might not even be checked.

    This is not how most people I know would process a choice like this. They check if they want to do both, but end up in a deadlock until the criteria is tuned so that only one of the options is picked (assuming only one can be done).
    Which choice gets picked matters, unlike an XOR where the only thing that matters is that one choice is true and the other is false. The output for the latter is the value of the operation, while for the former it is the argument itself.

    The thing is that in English, 'or' already has an implied exclusive meaning to it, so it already is interpreted as a logical XOR of sorts by default.
  • 3
    Also, in many situations there is no difference between or and xor, since xorness is enforced by real world constraints (you can't be in two places at the same time).
  • 3
    Would you like to watch Netflix xor eat popcorn?
  • 2
    When I took a logic class in college, I was astonished to learn that “or” isn’t exclusive. Obviously that was prior to starting my CS major. lol
  • 1
    You are wrong. When talking about a requirement that is met by either X or Y, satisfying both X and Y would not necessarily mean that the requirement isn't met
  • 2
    Idk how others were taught about the distinction between XOR and OR in Boolean Algebra, but mine explicitly clarified, on the very first day it was introduced, not to think of OR as its English equivalent. Problem solved. :P
  • 4
    @elazar Incorrect. You can be two places at the same time. Take your wife makeup shopping some time. You can be in Ulta and hell at the exact same time.

    We really need Hawking to study this "misery entanglement".
  • 2
    @BambuSource Have you tried Nutella and cheese? It's gorgeous.
  • 3
    My girlfriend actually used this for her advance... I had to go to the cinema after the restaurant, just because I hadn't used XOR while asking her.
  • 1
    @paradonym haha smart girlfriend!
  • 1
    @xxxx you need to bring lunch when you go swimming or dancing o_O. Myth busted...
  • 2
    What I want for lunch you ask? Anything with Nutella or cheese is fine...
  • 1
    @irene you are missing an AND!
    I feel more for cheese and sirup
  • 3
    @irene Nutella?🤢 and cheese 🤮
  • 1
    @irene Nutella and cheese is no joke!
  • 2
    Haven't you heard of swim-dancing? It's all the rage with the kids.
  • 1
    @irene Sounds like a very interesting combination! 😂
  • 1
    @irene maybe I'll try one day.. maybe not 😁
  • 2
    You mean : wanna go swimming, (se) XOR dancing?
  • 2
    Counter example:

    "Many of you are good writers or singers"

    Here it's not clear if no one of the persons this is directed at are both, good writers and singers.

    A definitive XOR would require 'either...or':

    "Many of you are either good writers or good singers."

    Natural language isn't precise in that regard.
  • 1
    @irene Yes. I sometimes wish we world just abolish all languages and replace them by one with clear syntax. Would make NLP so much easier!

    But on the other hand: I like languages to much to give them up just for the sake of soaking with machines...
  • 1
    @irene natural language processing benefits from language without ambiguities. ;)
  • 1
    @irene Nope. :D
    But I was confused too, when I heard the acronym the first time.
  • 1
    @irene I too thought of neuro linguistic programming when I read his comment
  • 3
    This is why I usually answer with "yes"... It's also just fun to watch people process.
  • 3
    @irene nah. I'm always up for both swimming and dancing. And at the same time, if possible 😂
  • 0
    @xxxx maybe we should start using XOR... 🤔🤔
  • 0
    @irene I don't think russians say "or x, or y" though in a case a person says in this fashion it is 100% exclusive, I agree.

    But I think in russian I tend to use this or that while picking/choosing between smth. Again, yes, that's not to say that the person helping me couldn't say "why not both?" - they could. But not in the majority of cases
  • 0
    @jAsE Relax mate, it's just an observation about how the word "or" has different meanings in English and in logic :)
  • 0
    @xxxx A false observation nonetheless.
  • 1
    I think someone obviously implies doing one or the other when they ask "want to do x or y?". I agree with those who say it's contextual. "Want to dance or swim" is XORable but " Want to knock boots or partake in the Olympic games"... nobody is satisfying both of those simultaneously 😳 but my overall point is the meaning is to choose one exclusively unless you answer with "why not both?" *Mexican music plays*
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