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#1 2010-09-18 13:28:09
- Sunrise-Moon
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-06-27
- Posts: 1000+
As I was Going to St. Ives...
You've probably heard of the St. Ives riddle:
As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Each wife had seven sacks
Each sack had seven cats
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?
Normally, people say the answer is one person is going to St. Ives- the narrator, but if you look at the riddle again, you might notice these two lines seem to point to a different answer:
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?
Those last line seems to be referring to the second-to-last line. And so, the answer could be '0', as apparently, no kits, cats, sacks, or wives, are going to St. Ives.
But wait! Think about it- we don't know whether or not the man and his wives, kits, sacks, and cats are going to St. Ives, do we? Because of this, there is no definitive answer.
And so, my question is- how many were going to St. Ives?
Last edited by Sunrise-Moon (2010-09-18 13:28:41)
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#2 2010-09-18 13:32:04
- antimonyarsenide
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- Registered: 2010-02-03
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
Interesting thoughts.
I say 109csc(2e^-5)+21π/φsqrt(9+2i) 
Last edited by antimonyarsenide (2010-09-18 13:32:15)
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#3 2010-09-18 13:55:35
- KalinaStar
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- Registered: 2009-03-14
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
One! I know this. 
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#4 2010-09-18 13:56:16
- samurai768
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- Registered: 2009-07-21
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
1, because the rest are passing you going the other way
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#5 2010-09-18 14:07:28
- Sunrise-Moon
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
samurai768 wrote:
1, because the rest are passing you going the other way
But you didn't consider the possibility that they are going to St. Ives, or that the last line is asking whether the kits, cats, sacks, and wives are going to St. Ives, not how many as in everyone.
Last edited by Sunrise-Moon (2010-09-18 14:07:43)
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#6 2010-09-18 14:10:43
- samurai768
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
Sunrise-Moon wrote:
samurai768 wrote:
1, because the rest are passing you going the other way
But you didn't consider the possibility that they are going to St. Ives, or that the last line is asking whether the kits, cats, sacks, and wives are going to St. Ives, not how many as in everyone.
Kit, cats, sacks, and wives is essentially referring to the fact that there are many people including you, since you're on the way to St. Ives. There is the possibility they were going on the way, but it would seem more logical that you would meet them at your destination or they were passing by.
And then of course, I could be completely wrong
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#7 2010-09-18 14:45:35
- KalinaStar
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
One is the answer, I know so!
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#8 2010-09-18 14:47:52
- Sunrise-Moon
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
KalinaStar wrote:
One is the answer, I know so!
It's the widely accepted answer, but not necessarily the correct one.
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#10 2010-09-18 16:06:22
- Ace-Of-Diamonds
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- Registered: 2010-02-02
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Re: As I was Going to St. Ives...
The plane crashes.
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