To not be able to agree on this 'simple' question

[pooopypants]

Please help me answer, to DH, what has been an ongoing discussion for at least 4 weeks:

A shop closes at 12pm (midday) and reopens at 2pm the same day. 12pm on the dot, 2pm on the dot. How long is the shop closed for, in hours?

There's no riddle behind it, nothing to bend time, stop clocks etc etc

It's also not a trick question, we just can't agree and I can't find another way to explain this

Are you sure he's not just winding you up?

XH used to do similar, but with months.

So to him, January to March would be 3 months, instead of 2.

When the topic came up with someone who knew better than me (eyeroll) and they put him straight, he wouldn't ever admit he was wrong, but instead would insist that I'd heard him wrong/said something different etc.

Reason 523 he's an ex

Ooh great minds @Kazzyhoward Snap!

Absolutely simple arithmetic - even I can do it. What's wrong with him? Hopefully he does not need to do this sort of thing for work or travel etc? Is he a road breaker by any chance? (Not that they are not lovely.)

How have you not killed him????????????

Get him to work it through for you.

The shop closed at 12pm.

Fifteen minutes later, how long has it been closed for? Ask him. 15 minutes have passed. What time is it then? How long has it been closed? That should establish it's now 12.15.

Then:
Fifteen minutes later, how long has it been closed for? Ask him. Another15 minutes have passed. What time is it then? How long has it been closed? That should establish it's now 12.30 and 30 minutes have passed.

Repeat until you get to 2pm, accumulating the number of minutes that have passed and the time after each interval and use that as the starting time for the next interval.

Don't let it go. You must win. This would drive me insane. You owe it to the world to battle on.

Then

Stop shouting that the guy is stupid!

Some of us really struggle with that kind of situation, posters have described it. Doesn't mean they are stupid, just that there's a mental block on fence post/panel questions.

Then when you win, make him take over all the maths teaching. Best way to learn.

No a child celebrating their 2nd birthday is 2 years old, but their 3rd year starts on that day. Some people have a very hard time understanding that.

This... and don't get me started on the whole decades starting with a zero thing. Years ending in a zero are the LAST year of the decade.

I agree with Pickle - people can get stuck on really simple stuff - which is why it's important to explain it in a way he understands and then he needs to practice! It's amazing what people can get blocks on. It's why so many shops get away with 'up to 50% off' - people can't work out fractions and so they don't notice it's only 10% off and not 50%.

I think some people need to stop with the "is he stupid" comments because some cognitive issues will make understanding this type of thing difficult and it doesn't mean the person is stupid

Maybe not, but if you have form for “not being good at maths” (putting it kindly) then arguing for hours about something like this is a bit stupid.

Could he have dyscalculia? Friend recently realised she’s been paying the wrong amount (too much!) for parking for years due to pretty much the same error. Her DC has some mild learning difficulties and she’s realised that she likely does too.

2 hours

The shop was closed for two hours and reopened for the third hour.

It wasn't closed for three hours.

Sandman, if the decade started in the first second of the first minute of the first hour of the first day of the first month of the first year of the the decade then 2020 is the start of the decade, as soon as that second has passed. Why would it start a year later? Who says a decade runs 1-10 rather than 0-9? A decade is just a period of 10 years so there is no rule about when the decade starts and ends so much people, rightly, run it from the first second of 2020 to the last second of 2029. Nothing wrong with that.

He needs to go back to school, OP (when they reopen, of course...) 2 hours, no more, no less.

And if he knows he's bad at math, why is he arguing with his wife?! He should be listening and learning! If he accepts it to the level he won't try and teach the children then arguing about it means he is just being difficult. If he thought he was better at math he would teach the children.....!

Did your husband attend school?

Baffling!

Would this help him to understand?

2 hours.

Look at a clock face.

Use the 24 hour clock.

ClaudiaWankleman

Gosh your dh must be very hard work .
It's 2 hours , how can he disagree any other way .
I had a friend who wouldn't count the year like say she's getting married in June 2022 say so that's 2 years away from now agreed ? . She'd say well you don't count this year so really it's 1 year away . I just rolled my eyes because she's not the brightest bulb in the box .

Do NOT get him onto the subject of which year a new century or millenium starts in.

Or what time it is the next day, after the clocks have gone forwards or back.

Ahh but is it january to March inclusive of january and march OR just January to March @Shodan

14 - 12 = 2

He is taking this piss, surely. I also want to see the diagram. No one is this thick