Posted by dorayme on 07/14/06 06:25

In article <iwlq4mogzvnu$.14lgtti6jjivy.dlg@40tude.net>,
Els <els.aNOSPAM@tiscali.nl> wrote:

> Take this very (too) simple one: 1 2 3 5 .. ..
> They think it's obvious that the next one is 8, but I figure it could
> be 6.
> Their pattern: 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55
> My pattern: 1 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 13
>
> Who's to say I'm wrong? ;-)

No one at all!

Fact is, for any finite set of numbers, there are an infinite
number of formulae that generate just those those numbers in
exact sequence but 'go on' differently. I guess there is a
question of comparing the formulae on the grounds of simplicity.
One simple idea of simplicity, and not a bad one, is the brevity
of the formula. However in simple cases of the intelligence
tests, it is generally easy to see a number of ways of proceeding
that are equally summed up in a rule.

--
dorayme

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