The purpose of this essay is to prove that saying "maybe" or "maybe not" is a lie if you know the correct answer. This only applies to questions with a boolean answer. This is intended primarily for my brother, who loves to annoy me with illogical word games. I realize this isn't particularly well-written, but it will doubtless come in handy.
<blockquote>When someone asks you a yes or no (boolean) question, and you know the answer, you should not say "maybe" or "maybe not". If you know the answer is "yes", then there is a 0% chance that the answer is "no". Therefore, saying "maybe not" is a lie because the probability of that being true is 0%, and "maybe not" means by definition that there is a chance that the answer is "no". The same works for "maybe" when you know the answer is "no". There is 0% chance of the answer being “yesâ€?, so you cannot truthfully say "maybe". "Probably" is very similar. If the answer is "no", the probability of it being "yes" is 0.</blockquote>On another subject: we are having potato salad tonight! I just Mom's love potato salad…so rich and creamy…full of homemade mayonnaise….just a little tart….makes my mouth water just writing about it.
Maybe I don't lie.
If the answer is "yes", then "maybe" is still more right than "maybe not" or "no". [;)]
Polystyrene Man Is Confusing. Go Canucks Go.
Actually, Poly…
Maybe means possibly. Possibly means that it is possible, but not necessarily probable.Therefore, Maybe not leans more to yes than maybe =O.DOWN WITH CHIK-FIL-A!!!!!All of what you said applies well only under the assumption that you are 100% sure that the answer is either "yes" or "no". In real life, how often does that occur? Often even simple things can't be certain, eg. the very idea that you are being asked a question causes you to question the definite possibilities in straightforward, memory-related things, like "did you drink my coke yesterday?".
Of course, what you said is nonetheless technically true.Well, this is tailored specifically for my word-game brother, who constantly gives vague answers to questions he is 100% sure of.