Word Problem
Two trains leave at 3:30 PM. Train 1 is traveling at 867 MPH, straight up in the air at an angle of 87.62º Fahrenheit. Train 2 actually never left. At 5:41 AM, train 1 asked train 2 if he was in the mood for coffee. Train 2 was not thirsty but for some reason he still wanted some coffee. If gravity is not an object, how many nanoseconds will pass before the trains reach the edge of the world? Also, how much were the train tickets?
Hint: 2+2≠4
Hint: 2+2≠4
Last edited by trustdestruction; Mar 22, 2010 at 01:44 AM.
Two trains leave at 3:30 PM. Train 1 is traveling at 867 MPH, straight up in the air at an angle of 87.62º Fahrenheit. Train 2 actually never left. At 5:41 AM, train 1 asked train 2 if he was in the mood for coffee. Train 2 was not thirsty but for some reason he still wanted some coffee. If gravity is not an object, how many nanoseconds will pass before the trains reach the edge of the world? Also, how much were the train tickets?
Hint: 2+2≠4
Hint: 2+2≠4
Now, this opens a metaphysical dilemma of identity through time. You must first define what the train is.
What is a train (Train A)? Is it merely a collection of parts that move in tandem to create directional motion? Is a train no longer a train when it derails at 867mph, scraping chunks of paint and metal off the side as it careens through an elementary school, killing millions of orangutans and penguins? If you pick that train back up after such a calamity and wipe the blood off, is it still the same train as it used to be? It's missing some paint, a wheel or two, and some metal but it can theoretically perform the same function as a train.
Hypothetically, Train A is set upright, cleaned, welded a little, and repainted. Is it the same train? I say NO! Because there is new metal and paint that wasn't there before. And the train has a new conductor (replaced because the original conductor was killed in the calamity with the penguins and was subsequently fired.) So Train A is actually now Train C.
Train B is actually the same train because it never left until later that morning (at 6:66am to be precise).
In conclusion, I posit that Train B and Train C had coffee at approximately 5:45am and that the tickets cost $121. (Also, the coffee was free for employees.)
Proof of concept:



where 

Mass continuity will read:

Of course, one must use their own common sense, lest one have flagpoles miles in diameter and fathers younger than their sons.
Last edited by WellFedHobo; Mar 22, 2010 at 02:35 PM.


