Tree/forest Question...(was Re: Can God...)

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| MeB4:
| > > OK, here is the all time greatest stumper *I* know:  If three plus
| three
| > is ten minus two, minus two, how many pancakes does it take to cover a
| > Chinese cat?
| 
| Sis:
| Only one, provided it is LARGE enough!!!!
| 
| Me:
| The reason it's a stumper is that it causes you to make the wrong
| assumption under which you then proceed to the right conclusion. ;-)
| 
| The first word in the question is *IF*.  When one proceeds to establish
the
| CONDITIONS that must be satisfied by the word if, the ONLY answer to the
| question is: "three plus three IS NOT ten minus two, minus two."
| 
| Gramatically there are 14 letters in the first statement and 19 in the
| second so there cannot be identity on this account alone.  One might then
| wrongly assume that the two are identical on a mathmatical basis but this
| too is wrong. Consider that the EQUATION: 3+3 is not IDENTICAL to:
| (10-2)-2.  These two very DIFFERENT equations yield the same RESULT when
| reduced and indeed can be said to be EQUIVALENT: 3=3 EQUALS (10-2)-2, but
| to say that one equation IS the other would be totally false.  Therefore
| the right answer is: "Three plus three IS NOT ten minus two, minus two!"
| 

I have to disagree with your conclusion.  According to *your* logic, the
right answer should read "Three plus three EQUALS ten minus two, minus
two."  To substitute the mathematical result into *your "right answer" you
would get "6 IS NOT 6"!!!

However,
Saying "is/are" in a *mathematical* statement (grammar aside) means the
same thing as saying "equals", just like "less" means "minus" and "times"
means "multiplied by".

Ex.
Two plus two IS four.

Two and two ARE four.

You still use a form of the verb.
At least that's what I was always taught, even up through
college (I go to Xavier University).

May I ask where you found this puzzle?

Anneliese