Forwards Demystified [irked]
I haven’t had one of my trademark “irked” posts in a while. Maybe the new medication is working. If so, it only works up to a point, because today, I had an inappropriately strong reaction to this forward (below) my father sent me. I’m sure forwards like this are familiar to you; there are a million just like it:
DON’T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!
It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read .
Be sure you don’t read the bottom until you’ve worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things, it’s fun.
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1758…
If you haven’t, add 1757.
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.
You should have a three digit number
The first digit of this was your original number. (I.e., How many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.)
The next two numbers are
YOUR AGE ! —— (Oh YES, it is!)
What the above excerpt does not capture is the zany HUGE multicolored lettering. I’m convinced that these forwards survive for two reasons: (1) Most Americans can’t do 8th grade math and (2) those who can have better things to do than point on why these forwards are stupid. I’m the rare person who is not a member of either group, so here is a mathematical explanation of how this works:
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)
x
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
2x
3. Add 5
2x + 5
4. Multiply it by 50
(2x + 5)*50 = 100x + 250
From here, you can clearly see how your original number becomes the third digit because all this formula does is multiple your number, whatever it is, by 100. So, we’ll ignore that part now.
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1758…
100x + 250 + 1758 = 100x + 2008
If you haven’t, add 1757.
100x + 250 + 1757 = 100x + 2007
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.
Ok, so you are now subtracting the year you were born from the current year (or last year if you have not have your birthday this year yet). The magic! The wonder! Still, I wonder if this kind of mathematical slight of hand has ever gotten anyone laid. I kinda doubt it, but it might be worth a shot.