(I heard this in a movie and I think it’s pretty cool.)
A man is born in 1955. Today, the 14th of August, 2017, he is 18. How is this possible?
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1$\begingroup$ "Today" is 1973? $\endgroup$– F1KrazyAug 14, 2017 at 11:52
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4$\begingroup$ Perhaps 18 is his age listed in Base 54. :P $\endgroup$– MichaelAug 14, 2017 at 18:16
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3$\begingroup$ @Fogmeister He has a horse named Wednesday $\endgroup$– Jim JonesAug 14, 2017 at 20:49
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1$\begingroup$ @JimJones this riddle reminded me of it. Very similar nature. $\endgroup$– FogmeisterAug 14, 2017 at 20:50
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3$\begingroup$ @Michael There are only 10 people in the world, those who know binary and those who don't. You, my friend, are the latter. $\endgroup$– JohnyNichAug 15, 2017 at 10:17
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7 Answers
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The answer is simply:
1955 is where he was born. So either hospital room number or home address if home birth!
I have heard this one before but I don't remember where, maybe the movie you mentioned.
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$\begingroup$ After answering I looked it up and its a pretty easy google find too! $\endgroup$– BMS21Aug 14, 2017 at 11:58
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1$\begingroup$ True maybe a good one to annoy ppl with on the fly! $\endgroup$– BMS21Aug 14, 2017 at 12:07
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4$\begingroup$ The puzzle might have worked better with '33 instead of '55 ;-) $\endgroup$ Aug 14, 2017 at 16:35
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1$\begingroup$ There similar puzzles involving twins, with one born in March and one born in e.g. September. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March,_Cambridgeshire (The most complicated version being with them born either side of midnight on a month boundary, as the ambulance crosses the town boundary.) $\endgroup$– armbAug 14, 2017 at 17:29
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3$\begingroup$ Apperently, people are keeping a list of places like these: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_with_numeric_names $\endgroup$ Aug 15, 2017 at 14:38
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He was born on an extrasolar planet that revolves around its star in 3.4444444444444 Earth years.
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$\begingroup$ Good thought, sir. I like the way you think. $\endgroup$ Aug 15, 2017 at 10:14
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"Today, he is 18." Which means his name is 18. Or he is in jail, having number 18.
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The man died in 1973 and thus only lived 18 years?
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4$\begingroup$ But then would you say he's 18 today? (This question already has an accepted answer, btw.) $\endgroup$ Aug 14, 2017 at 17:52
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1$\begingroup$ the accepted answer is lame...i like this better $\endgroup$ Aug 15, 2017 at 1:20
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1$\begingroup$ You're right, the accepted answer is lame. Who needs that ruddy answer. Be creative! There's more than one answer. $\endgroup$ Aug 15, 2017 at 10:16
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At the risk of giving the obvious answer(s),
or, almost equivalently,
- He’s been in suspended animation / stasis for 44 years.
- He’s been travelling in space for $n+44$ years at such (relativistic) high speed that only $n$ years have passed for him during his trip, so he’s aged only $n$ years. (And he’s spent only $18-n$ years on Earth.)
answered Aug 14, 2017 at 19:39
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$\begingroup$ The second one is why I make fun of trying to handle absolutely every case in medical software. $\endgroup$– JoshuaAug 15, 2017 at 3:20
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The person was in space or another planet. People age differently in space/other planets.
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This man acted in interstellar movie maybe.
