# Can 4 = 6 and 10 = 1000? : Another Grandpa Question

Grandpa likes PSE. He is amazed at the smart puzzle solvers who seem to solve any of his riddles. So he constantly tries to think of new challenging questions.

So he says:

"Ask Tom, SteveV, Jafe, Rand, elguest, hex, Bass and other smart guys

Is it possible to prove

4 = 6

and

10 = 1000

using same logic (that is what I call it)

and no math operations?"

uvag guvax ebgguvegrra

• i assume rot13(gung gur nafjre vfa'g fvzcyl "ab")? – SteveV Jan 23 at 14:05
• Correct SteveV. There is a funny logic to get to the answer – DEEM Jan 23 at 14:14
• And you already have it! – DEEM Jan 23 at 14:15
• Interesting thing. My university math teacher once said that our math is what we desided to accept long ago. We accepted that 2*2 = 4, but we could have accepted that 2*2 = a fluffy white rabbit. – Eugene Anisiutkin Jan 23 at 14:59
• Also i suppose rot13(lbh unir gb znxr n "abg rdhnyf" fvat vafgrnq "rdhnyf" fvta. Gung fgvpgyl fcrnxvat jba'g or n zngu bcrengvba, ohg n qenjvat bar.) is not the correct answer =) – Eugene Anisiutkin Jan 23 at 15:07

In Roman, 4 is IV.
But rot13(IV) is VI!
VI in Roman is 6,
so 4=6.

Similarly
For 1000=10

In Roman, 10 is X.
But rot13(X) is K.
K isn’t roman for 1000, but it does mean 1000.
So 10=1000.

Attempt 2(wrong again!):

My guess would be:

From @Rand al’Thor

I think it might be something to do with
the fact that all of the puzzlers mentioned in the question - Tom, SteveV, Jafe, Rand, elguest, hex, Bass - have tag badges (bronze, silver, or gold) in the riddle tag.
Which makes it ironic that
I just edited the riddle tag out of your question because it's not a riddle! :-P
Which then makes me think that the numbers might have something to do with
the requirements for earning a tag badge. Specifically, the number of answers/votes you need for a silver one is 4 times the number you need for a bronze one, while the number you need for a gold one is 10 times that, which comes to 1000 votes. I just don't see the relevance of 6 ...

But I seem to have the answer.

For 10=1000

The number of votes you need for a gold badge is 1000, which is 10 times those for bronze.

For 4=6

I just browsed the six user profiles, and except for Rand al’Thor and El-Guest, the remaining four have silver or below in the tag.

4=6
This can be proven by using Roman numerals
4=IV
6=VI
IV=VI
So 4=6

Then for part 2:

10 = 1000 if we consider 0 to have no value - literally!

• IV = VI ? I do not get it. There is a different way Krad Cigol – DEEM Jan 23 at 13:00
• Oh, ok. Is 10=1000 right? – Krad Cigol Jan 23 at 13:01
• No. Remember SAME LOGIC for both. – DEEM Jan 23 at 14:13
• Hello. You finally have it (Rot13) But 4 = IV and Rot13 IV is VI =6. Please edit your answer @Krad Cigol – DEEM Jan 24 at 14:10
• Great solve and question @DEEM. $\pi = 105$ :) – Tom Jan 24 at 14:28

I think it might be something to do with

the fact that all of the puzzlers mentioned in the question - Tom, SteveV, Jafe, Rand, elguest, hex, Bass - have tag badges (bronze, silver, or gold) in the tag.

Which makes it ironic that

I just edited the tag out of your question because it's not a riddle! :-P

Which then makes me think that the numbers might have something to do with

the requirements for earning a tag badge. Specifically, the number of answers/votes you need for a silver one is 4 times the number you need for a bronze one, while the number you need for a gold one is 10 times that, which comes to 1000 votes. I just don't see the relevance of 6 ...

• it feels like you are on the right path. if it helps rot13(gur evqqyr gnt vf gur bayl gnt gung unf njneqrq n tbyq (bar-gubhfnaq cbvag) onqtr.) – SteveV Jan 23 at 19:00
• How are you so good at this stuff? Do you work? Are you just AI? Ahh so many questions! – T James Jan 23 at 19:36
• @SteveV I (of all people) know that :-P The 6 is still a mystery though ... – Rand al'Thor Jan 23 at 20:49
• How do you know it's not some other Tom, other SteveV and so on? Anyone can change his name any time. – Thomas Weller Jan 23 at 23:11
• @ThomasWeller That's a downside of this puzzle ... but in context, as a PSE regular, I'm pretty sure these are the users meant. – Rand al'Thor Jan 24 at 6:19

Just going to give this a try. Was not even aware that this stackExchange existed!

4=6 -> 4=IV, 6 = VI
10=1000 -> 10=X, 1000=M

IV=VI
X=M
Step 1, remove all vertical lines
Step 2, cut off the lower half of the character
IV=VI --> V=V --> \/=\/
X=M --> X=v* --> V=V

*the v is floating in the air, its the "v" part of M once the vertical lines are removed

Well...

in many tribal languages, for example that of the Caquintes, numerals higher than two or three are just a word that means "many" (in Caquinte language's case, "oshequi"). So our expressions become "oshequi" = "oshequi" and "oshequi" = "oshequi". Voilà!

If you are asking a smart group of guys a question. aka: Tom, SteveV, Jafe, Rand, elguest, hex, Bass and others. They are all part of the same group no matter if its four people or six people