komponisto comments on Pound of Feathers, Pound of Gold - Less Wrong

2 Post author: Annoyance 23 October 2009 05:48PM

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Comment author: komponisto 23 October 2009 08:51:41PM *  5 points [-]

Which weighs more: a pound of feathers, or a pound of gold?

[...rationality discussion...]

I must be missing something. I thought the point of this riddle was the difference between avoirdupois and Troy weight -- a simple matter of (rather esoteric) factual knowledge not contained in the structure of the question.

Comment author: knb 23 October 2009 11:34:33PM *  3 points [-]

The point of the riddle, as I've always heard it, is to take advantage of the fact that we're primed to think of an even amount of lead and feathers (by volume, presumably) as having different weights due to density, we forget that the weight is the given variable.

I believe this is the incarnation of the riddle that Annoyance is referencing. I always heard the materials in this riddle as feathers and lead, probably because lead has strong associations with heaviness and density. Maybe there are two different riddles using the same materials.

EDIT: After looking it up, I can see that there are two different but similar riddles with feathers/metal. One has to do with troy weight/avoirdupois weight, the other with density.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070925160232AAR2Arr

Note that someone suggested the same riddle as you, and others answered the question as posed.

Comment author: CronoDAS 26 October 2009 02:48:50AM 2 points [-]

The "duh" version is usually stated as "Which weighs more: a ton of bricks, or a ton of feathers?" Or, at least, that's the way I usually heard it.

Comment author: billswift 23 October 2009 10:30:42PM *  0 points [-]

Another way of looking at it is an ambiguity between two close but not identical meanings of "pound". Which is why it is tricky, not really because it's esoteric. Also, it's not really all that esoteric, most people learn about the difference as kids, mostly through this riddle.

Comment author: Annoyance 24 October 2009 04:19:28PM 0 points [-]

That is an absolutely charming interpretation, and one that makes a lot of sense. However, in my experience, it's not how the riddle is commonly used.

That would be a great way to show off your knowledge of jeweler's weights, though.