Friday, December 22, 2017

question #32 : the planet of z


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the planet of z has 10 billion inhabitants.

there are 5 billion male inhabitants and 5 billion female inhabitants.

the imperial ruler of the planet is chosen by lottery and remains ruler until death, and is then replaced by another person chosen by lottery.

until recently, the law stated that all 5 billion males and only the 5 billion males were entered in the lottery .

but the law has now been amended so that all 10 billion inhabitants, male and female, are entered.

the result is that where previously every male had one chance in 5 billion and every female had 0 chance, now every inhabitant has one chance in 10 billion.

how would you interpret this development?

that it is

a) a tremendous change, as now the males and females have an equal chance

or

b) that it is inconsequential, as the chances of any one person winning the lottery remain infinitesimally small?


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question #31


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what do you think is the most important thing about a book or story or poem?


a) whether it is well or badly written

b) whether it makes any sense

c) whether it is boring or interesting

d) whether or not it shows good triumphing over evil

e) whether the characters are likable

f) whether it was written by a male or a female

g) whether it was written by a white or a non-white person

h) whether it was written by a lgbtq person or a non-lgbtq person

i) whether or not it opposes racism and sexist (or is racist or sexist)

j) whether or not it opposes capitalism and imperialism

k) whether or not it makes you feel good

l) whether or not it is based on an original concept or concepts

m) whether or not it is plagiarized from something else

n) whether or not it is culturally appropriative

o) whether it has a distinctive personal style

p) whether or not it contains words that might be offensive or hurtful

q) whether the author is a good or a bad person


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