Comments on: Learning How to Count (Avoiding The Fencepost Problem) https://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/ Math lessons that click Tue, 05 Jul 2022 19:39:41 +0000 hourly 1 By: Half-Century Mix: 50 Songs from the Last 50 Years - Knowledge base https://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-391279 Mon, 04 Jan 2021 14:31:53 +0000 http://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-391279 […] to deal with it in grade school math class (and how I still think about it) is: are you counting fence posts or the gaps between them? So, a person born in 1970 turned 50 years old in 2020 but a song from […]

]]> By: asd https://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-347689 Wed, 22 Aug 2018 18:21:00 +0000 http://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-347689 Interesting. The root of the difference seems to be with discrete versus continuous things.

]]> By: Alex Hertel https://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-339874 Sun, 06 May 2018 06:53:00 +0000 http://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-339874 Another example of fencepost counting is birthdays. When a kid turns 4 years old, or when someone turns 65 and retires, people mistakenly say that’s the kid’s “4th birthday” or the retiree’s “65th birthday”, but this again is the fencepost problem. They’re forgetting that your first birthday is on the day that you’re born (because that’s literally your BIRTH DAY), so when you turn 4 years old, that’s actually your 5th birthday. In other words, “4 years old” refers to a span whereas “4th birthday” refers to the fenceposts.

Similarly, centuries are spans, so the year 1972 happened during the 20th century. Counting really is much more complicated and confusing than most people realize.

]]> By: Emin https://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-334695 Fri, 17 Mar 2017 12:21:02 +0000 http://betterexplained.com/articles/learning-how-to-count-avoiding-the-fencepost-problem/#comment-334695 Lovely article.

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