Is a toyota 15.62% better than a Datsun?

[billyjarrell]

O.k. so here's the story... as a joke I sent a text message to a toyota loving friend of mine that said Z+L28>ae86 (ae86 is an early corolla..think initial D if anyone didn't know)..

In response to my message he went through the trouble of proving toyotas are better like this. He assigned each letter of the alphabet a number e.g. A=1, B=2, C=3, and so on all the way to Z. he then spelled out the names D-A-T-S-U-N and T-O-Y-O-T-A, and totalled the value of each. Datsun=79 while Toyota=96. Using these numbers he determined that toyotas are 15.62% greater than Datsuns...

Is there anyone out there with even more time on his hands than this guy to prove him wrong? Or do I have to accept his mathematic logic?

P.s. I do realize that we are both in fact nerds, but at least I'm a Z loving nerd..hahaha.

[Mr Camouflage]

15.62% better at delivering tofu maybe.

[sblake01]

It's the 'Y' in Toyota that does it. At least, Datsun is greater than Nissan. If you could somehow find a way to work the 'Z' into it.........Thanks alot, Billy! Now I need to go find something worthwhile to do.

[Danglybanger]

I really wish I could dismantle the emblems on the Z to the point where they just said "YO".

That's really the only advantage Toyota ownership gives.

[geezer]

Or do I have to accept his mathematic logic?

Yep, accept his mathematical logic, but offer to complete the equation by dividing the Toyota total by 7, taking into account "dog years"!!

[boyblunda]

I think your friend may have punched the wrong button on the calculator. Without going into the nuts and bolts of how he or she came to the totals 96 and 79, 96 is 21.52% greater than 79, and 79 is 17.71% less than 96.

However, please do not be distracted by the above. Your friend obviously needs both profesional help and the support of friends and you should concentrate on providing whatever assistance you can.

[zbane]

If your friend is insisting that the logic "proving" that Toyota (as an entire automotive manufacturer) is better by 15.62% than Datsun (as an entire automotive manufacturer), then he will have to admit that the S30 (as an individual model) is 31.58% better than the ae86 (as an individual model)!

S=19

AE=6

6 as a percentage of 19 = 31.58% (thanks boyblunda)

So feel free to accept his logic, so long as he accepts that it affects him adversely.

Edited November 10, 2008 by zbane

[hls30.com]

Reminds me of the Logic vs Sex skit from Monty Python years ago. I have the sound byte somewhere-I'll try to post it after finding and listening to it again myself...I'm laughing just think in g about it...but who in this thread would be the wife and who would be the husband?

forget the video-just listen to the audio...but turn the volume down at 2:55 as there is additional audio added.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15517388

Will

Ps for those of you who would rather read the exchange:

Professional Logician monologue

"Good evening.

The last scene was interesting from the point of view of a professional logician because it contained a number of logical fallacies; that is, invalid propositional constructions and syllogistic forms, of the type so often committed by my wife. "All wood burns," states Sir Bedevere. "Therefore," he concludes, "all that burns is wood." This is, of course, pure bullshit. Universal affirmatives can only be partially converted: all of Alma Cogan is dead, but only some of the class of dead people are Alma Cogan. "Oh yes," one would think.

However, my wife does not understand this necessary limitation of the conversion of a proposition; consequently, she does not understand me. For how can a woman expect to appreciate a professor of logic, if the simplest cloth-eared syllogism causes her to flounder.

For example, given the premise, "all fish live underwater" and "all mackerel are fish", my wife will conclude, not that "all mackerel live underwater", but that "if she buys kippers it will not rain", or that "trout live in trees", or even that "I do not love her any more." This she calls "using her intuition". I call it "crap", and it gets me very *irritated* because it is not logical.

"There will be no supper tonight," she will sometimes cry upon my return home. "Why not?" I will ask. "Because I have been screwing the milkman all day," she will say, quite oblivious of the howling error she has made. "But," I will wearily point out, "even given that the activities of screwing the milkman and getting supper are mutually exclusive, now that the screwing is over, surely then, supper may, logically, be got." "You don't love me any more," she will now often postulate. "If you did, you would give me one now and again, so that I would not have to rely on that rancid Pakistani for my orgasms." "I will give you one after you have got me my supper," I now usually scream, "but not before" -- as you understand, making her bang contingent on the arrival of my supper.

"God, you turn me on when you're angry, you ancient brute!" she now mysteriously deduces, forcing her sweetly throbbing tongue down my throat. "**** supper!" I now invariably conclude, throwing logic somewhat joyously to the four winds, and so we thrash about on our milk-stained floor, transported by animal passion, until we sink back, exhausted, onto the cartons of yoghurt.

I'm afraid I seem to have strayed somewhat from my original brief. But in a nutshell:

Sex is more fun than logic -- one cannot prove this, but it "is" in the same sense that Mount Everest "is", or that Alma Cogan "isn't".

Goodnight. "

Will,

PS-is this an early exchange between Rick and she who must be obeyed?

Edited November 10, 2008 by hls30.com

[boyblunda]

From Wikipedia:

""Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is part of a phrase attributed to Benjamin Disraeli (and others) and popularised in the United States by Mark Twain: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." The statement refers to the persuasive power of numbers, the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions."

Edited November 10, 2008 by boyblunda

[billyjarrell]

I have to say you guys are awesome...!!! I love geezers reply "take into account dog years..." that is the best. Boyblunda you hit the nail on the head with using numbers to bolster weak arguments..amen to that..Zbane I mentioned your s=19 and ae=6 reasoning to him but he wasn't satisfied with not using the "30" or the "86", which plays right in to what boybluda said... And bravo to hls30.com for the most explicit response to a ridiculous problem. and I agree the Z just is....

[zbane]

And did you know, statistically speaking, that nearly 73% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

[gotswap]

Well 240 + z is way better then corolla. Give it up we win!!!!!!