• This man's father, is my father's son.
    302 replies, posted
Hello Facepunch. I'm taking a critical thinking class at my college, and on our online discussions board, we were asked to solve this: [quote]Stephen was looking at a photo. Someone asked him, "Whose picture are you looking at?" He replied: "I don't have any brother or sister, but this man's father is my father's son." So, whose picture was Stephen looking at?[/quote] So I concluded it was his son in the picture. this man's father = my father's son my son's father (me) = my father's son (me, since I have no brothers) Everyone else was responding 'himself', so I tried that too: my father = my father's son No, no.. that doesn't make sense. Clearly I've figured it out. It's his son. Why the hell am I making a facepunch thread about it then? Our instructor replied today, saying it WAS himself in the picture. My mom also thinks it's himself in the picture after I asked her about it. She tried explaining it to me, but I don't understand her logic at all. What do you think? Try working it out yourself, so you can provide an explanation along with your answer. [b]Edit:[/b] Rate agree or disagree to the post below, [b]but first read the rest of the thread[/b]. The results might surprise you. [b]Edit2:[/b] Added bold to the sentence above. Seriously, [b]read the thread[/b].
It's himself.
[QUOTE=Ryzo;23316363]It's himself.[/QUOTE] :engleft:
My name is Stephen :3:
Im dumb so i cannot answer you with a good answer
I think it is Stephen in the photo. I'm really bad at explaining things like this so I won't try and confuse everyone even more.
[QUOTE=Ryzo;23316363]It's himself.[/QUOTE] Its not himself its Stephens son.
[QUOTE=Ryzo;23316363]It's himself.[/QUOTE] Could you explain? Perhaps I'm just dumb. But I'd like to know where I'm wrong.
Seems like his son to me.
i'm not sure that this class is for you...
My fathers son and you have no brothers or sisters. It's not rocket science.
-snippo- [editline] derp [/editline] disregard this I'm stupid, it's his son [editline] derpderp [/editline] okay here's the final thingy: Ok stephen's father's son = stephen, right? that's easy isn't it. so in the riddle let's replace my (stephen's) father's son with stephen. This man's father, is stephen. Therefore it's stephen's son :science:
[QUOTE=Pridit;23316503]My fathers son and you have no brothers or sisters.[/QUOTE] It doesn't say "The man in the picture is my father's son", it says "This man's father is my father's son."
[QUOTE=Ryzo;23316363]It's himself.[/QUOTE] huh Surely "my father's son" is himself And if "this man's father" is him, then it must be his son Am I going insane?
Hmm. This is more confusing than it superficially appears to be.
As far as I can tell. It's supposed to be like that, if it's a thinking class what did you expect? Plain simple english?
Stephen is an asshole for not just saying it was him in the picture in the first place. [editline]01:15AM[/editline] He has to be all smug and mysterious about it.
After thinking about it more, it's his son.
look, the guy in the picture's father is Stephen's father's son, so it can either be himself or his brother, since they share the same father, it says Stephen has no brothers, so it must be Stephen himself. [editline] derp [/editline] disregard this I'm stupid, it's his son
He's looking at a picture of his son. If he has no brothers or sisters, and that man's father is his father's son, that means that the man in the picture is the son of Stephen's father's son, who is Stephen, meaning that the man in the picture is the son of Stephen.
This thread is too confusing.. If I think about it anymore I'll begin to get a headache.
[QUOTE=lettuce_head;23316670]look, the guy in the picture's father is Stephen's father's son, so it can either be himself or his brother, since they share the same father, it says Stephen has no brothers, so it must be Stephen himself.[/QUOTE] what look at what you just said Stephen's father's son is obviously [B]Stephen[/B]. So if the guy in the picture's [B]father[/B] is Stephen, then it's obviously his [B]son[/B] in the picture. random [B]BOLD[/B].
[QUOTE=Pridit;23316698]If I think about it anymore I'll begin to get a headache.[/QUOTE] I don't blame you.
This man's father Is my father's son This man is referring to himself.
It's obviously Stephen's son. "my father's son" is himself, Stephen. That man's father = "my father's son" = Stephen. That man's father = Stephen.
[QUOTE=jalb;23316547]It doesn't say "The man in the picture is my father's son", it says "This man's father is my father's son."[/QUOTE] This mans father = his dad is my fathers son = himself The man in the photo's father IS the son of his father. It's his son.
[QUOTE=JolKally;23316784]This man's father Is my father's son This man is referring to himself.[/QUOTE] My father's son = Stephen This man's father = Stephen So he's his own father, huh
[QUOTE=JolKally;23316784]This man's father Is my father's son[/QUOTE] So his father is himself? Or am I reading that wrong?
I think it can be both. It depends on how you perceive the riddle. If you assume that "this man" is Stephen, then it will be. If you assume that it's his son, then that will work as well. Edit: I retract this theory. It's his son.
[QUOTE=Hashmere;23316833]I think it can be both. It depends on how you perceive the riddle.[/QUOTE] Agreed.
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