[Guest]

This isn't a riddle. This is probably very easy. This isn't a PoW or WAI. This is what I'm calling a SHA, a Situational Hunt for Answers. This isn't the end of this paragraph. This is the end of this paragraph.

So.

I was talking to my friend about one of our large lecture classes, DiffyQ, and during the conversation I mentioned that "The majority of our DiffyQ class is white males." She responded, "Really? The majority of our DiffyQ class is African-American males."

Assumptions you can make: we are referring to the same class, of the same period of time. Neither of us are lying, and both of us have made factual statements. I'm sure there's other assumptions you can make that I haven't thought of.

The task is simply to explain the situation in as many ways as possible. I've thought up three.

[Guest]

The lecture was given in two separate class rooms?

[dyalDragon]

Some African born Americans are also white... If the number of non-white African Americans = the number of white non African Americans that is one way... If that makes any sense

and I hated DiffyQ... Professor was a moron

[Guest]

Some African born Americans are also white... If the number of non-white African Americans = the number of white non African Americans that is one way... If that makes any sense

and I hated DiffyQ... Professor was a moron

Sorry, spent early days playing music and gett'n stoned, college was not on my list. What in the world is DiffyQ?

[dyalDragon]

Sorry, spent early days playing music and gett'n stoned, college was not on my list. What in the world is DiffyQ?

A math/engineering class: Differential Equations, or Diff. Eq.

[Guest]

Sorry, spent early days playing music and gett'n stoned, college was not on my list. What in the world is DiffyQ?

Differential equation.

EDIT: we answered at the same time

Edited October 7, 2009 by Dutch Riddle Amateur

[Guest]

DiffyQ is just memorizing a bunch of algorithms... I miss my calculus teachers, they were great. =/

The lecture was given in two separate class rooms?

You can assume that the lecture and the class are the same, ha.

Some African born Americans are also white... If the number of non-white African Americans = the number of white non African Americans that is one way... If that makes any sense

and I hated DiffyQ... Professor was a moron

That's one of the ones I thought up!

[Guest]

I hang in this forum and not the math forum for a reason.

[DudleyDude]

but the class could have been full of African born causcasion males.

And I thought you were in HS. Pretty impressive to have a "large lecture class of DiffyQ" in HS. I took it my senior year but there were only four of us

[dyalDragon]

there are the exact same # of white and African American males in the class, and the difference is just in the perspective (glass half full/empty mentality)

[dyalDragon]

one of you is counting the prof. and the other isn't

[Guest]

but the class could have been full of African born causcasion males.

And I thought you were in HS. Pretty impressive to have a "large lecture class of DiffyQ" in HS. I took it my senior year but there were only four of us

I am in HS. Duel enrollment. =P

(duel enrolling two classes actually. My other class is a small discussion based Linguistics, which is awesome)

there are the exact same # of white and African American males in the class, and the difference is just in the perspective (glass half full/empty mentality)

one of you is counting the prof. and the other isn't

Both of you are basically giving different versions of one of the solutions I thought up:

Both of me and my friend are white, but I'm including us in the count, and she's not. Or some other variation of this: I'm black and she's white, and we both excluded ourselves and not the other

The third solution I thought up is probably the lamest.

Of course, there could be others out there!

[dyalDragon]

some students are 'mixed'

[Guest]

One was painted?

[Guest]

some students are 'mixed'

That's the other I wanted!

One was painted?

Hahhaha, nice.

[plainglazed]

you counted Asian males as white and she did not?

[Guest]

Ummmmmmmmmm.

I can't see anybody mistaking those two ethnicities for the other. -.O

I put up the solved thingy, but feel free to post more ideas...

Next I'd like to make a difficult SHA. Too bad my mind's in school/mafia/guitar right now, lol

[Guest]

I would say that what someone else said

that "African American" by definition means African born American citizens, and could be white. So if the class has 50 people total, and say 30 are white, half of which are African born, then both would be right. 15 white American born + 15 African born whites, white majority. And 15 African born whites + 15 African born black, African American majority. Any Asians, Latinos or American born black folks would not be counted, as they are plain 'ol Americans.