AIBU - This is simple. Isn't it?

[TheNestedIf]

This is an analogy. I am not a plumber. This is not really about taps or water or plumbing.

I have a tap that is supplied by one and only one source of water.

This could be pipe A or pipe B. I need to find out which.

I cut off pipe A and the tap still works.

Therefore, the tap must be supplied by pipe B and cannot be supplied by pipe A.

The fact that "tap" and "pipe" both contain the letter "p" does not add any confusion to this simple logic problem does it?

YANBU - Yes. That is very straightforward logic.

YABU - Nope. No idea. You must be some sort of super-genius. Explain it to me over and over until the final star winks out and the universe dies.

? I'm sure I'm missing something but yes the tap can't be supplied by pipe a

You lost me with 'p'

Are you doing maths homework with a primary aged child? If you are then there is generally no logic.

Therefore, the tap must be supplied by pipe B and cannot be supplied by pipe A.

Depends if it's a mixer

It's not a mixer...

"I have a tap that is supplied by one and only one source of water."

It's not maths homework with a child either. It's a grown adult and I've explained the logic about eight times already over the course of the last week.

Makes perfect sense but knowing my luck I'd then shut off pipe b and the tap would still work.

Have you tried explaining it as a shower instead of a tap? If the letter p is such a problem?

Seems pretty straightforward to me....

Try faucet

Clearly I’m a genius coz it’s pretty clear to me!

Draw it as a diagram? (Not for me, for your explainee).

Very straightforward the other person is an idiot unless this is a wind up 😂

OP can you deanalogise it? It might be too abstract for the person you're talking to and they would find a concrete/real example easier.

I have tried explaining it as a shower. That caused even more confusion. Also, I explained it both with and without an analogy to them. I'm only using an analogy here for a tiny level of anonymity.

It does make me wonder if they were asking the same question, yet again, because they are severely mentally lazy and it was a distraction technique to stop me from making them think about the work we were meant to be doing.

Maybe a money analogy? A person is either paid by company a or company b. If I burn company a to the ground and put them out of business, but the person still get paid.. they're paid by company b?

I'm struggling however to think what on earth this analogy is covering...

Well the simple solution is to turn off pipe b and see if the water still works. If it doesn’t, then yes it is indeed supplied by pipe b.

@TheNestedIf

I have tried explaining it as a shower. That caused even more confusion. Also, I explained it both with and without an analogy to them. I'm only using an analogy here for a tiny level of anonymity.

It does make me wonder if they were asking the same question, yet again, because they are severely mentally lazy and it was a distraction technique to stop me from making them think about the work we were meant to be doing.

Find an explanation on the Internet Male then read it and rewrite it from memory in their own words.

I do this to stop time wasters

Never mind, I appear to have no idea what is going on here.

DNA test to be sure

How about this analogy:
Imagine a light bulb. Two switches, A and B. ONE AND ONLY ONE switch controls the light.

Dick about with switch A. Flick it off, switch it on again, then off. The light stays on the whole time and doesn't go off.
Therefore, switch B controls the light and switch A has nothing to do with the light.

Would they understand that?

Also in my analogy, if you flicked switch "B" off and the light went out, that would conclusively prove switch B controlled the light. But you'd have already proved switch A didn't in my above analogy.

They won't understand the light-switches either, I don't think. It's the same principle.

We don't know where the stopcock is for pipe b so we can't turn it off, and to be honest, we don't actually care (which is another thing this person cannot seem to understand).

What we do need is to get pipe a supplying a different tap. We just needed to be sure it wasn't supplying the tap that pipe b is supplying.

What's the "Internet Male"? Is that from Urban Dictionary, which is what comes up when I google?

Are you female?
Are you trying to explain it to a male?
What is the relationship - colleague, client, or family member?
(I know that seems nosy - but I am interested I why they can't understand and I have theories.)

Sorry cross posted!

Pipe C?!

The bad plumber from years ago hid the actual pipe it’s connected to and left two old dodgey pipes to confuse you even more 😂

The light switch analogy you can actually physically demonstrate, if you live in the same house. Eg, if the switch for the kitchen and the lounge are nearby, and only one controls the kitchen light.

Or a coin toss.... "this coin has landed on either heads or tails. It's not tails! What is it?"