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BP508 Bongard Problems with precise definitions vs. Bongard Problems with vague definitions.
BP1
BP3
BP4
BP6
BP13
BP23
BP31
BP67
BP72
BP103
BP104
BP210
BP292
BP312
BP321
BP322
BP324
BP325
BP329
BP334
BP344
BP348
BP367
BP368
BP376
BP384
BP386
BP389
BP390
BP391
BP523
BP527
BP557
BP558
BP559

. . .

BP2
BP9
BP10
BP11
BP12
BP14
BP62
BP119
BP148
BP364
BP393
BP505
BP508
BP509
BP511
BP524
BP571
BP813
BP847
BP865
BP894
BP895
BP939
BP1002
BP1111
BP1158
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COMMENTS

Bongard Problems sorted left have the keyword "precise" on the OEBP.

Bongard Problems sorted right have the keyword "fuzzy" on the OEBP.


In an precise Bongard Problem, any relevant example is either clearly sorted left, clearly sorted right, or clearly not sorted.

(All relevant examples clearly sorted either left or right is the keyword allsorted.)


How can it be decided whether or not a rule is precise? How can it be decided whether or not a rule classifies all "examples that are relevant"? There needs to be another rule to determine which examples the original rule intends to sort. Bongard Problems by design communicate ideas without fixing that context ahead of time. The label "precise" can only mean a Bongard Problem's rule seems precise to people who see it. (This "precise vs. fuzzy" Bongard Problem is fuzzy.)


In an precise "less than ___ vs. greater than ___" Bongard Problem (keyword spectrum), the division between the sides is usually an apparent threshold. For example, there is an intuitive threshold between acute and obtuse angles (see e.g. BP292).


As a rule of thumb, do not consider imperfections of hand drawn images (keyword ignoreimperfections) when deciding whether a Bongard Problem is precise or fuzzy. Just because one can draw a square badly does not mean "triangle vs. quadrilateral" (BP6) should be labelled fuzzy; similar vagueness arises in all hand-drawn Bongard Problems. (For Bongard Problems in which fine subtleties of drawings, including small imperfections, are meant to be considered, use the keyword perfect.)


Sometimes the way a Bongard Problem would sort certain examples is an unsolved problem in mathematics. (See e.g. BP820.) There is a precise criterion that has been used to verify each sorted example fits where it fits (some kind of mathematical proof); however, where some examples fit is still unknown. Whether or not such a Bongard Problem should be labelled "precise" might be debated.

(Technical note: some properties are known to be undecidable, and sometimes the decidability itself is unknown. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_problem .)

(See the keyword proofsrequired.)

One way to resolve this ambiguity is to define "precise" as meaning that once people decide where an example belongs for a reason, they will all agree about it.


Sometimes the class of all examples in a Bongard Problem is imprecise, but, despite that, the rule sorting those examples is precise. Say, for some potential new example, it is unclear whether it should be included in the Bongard Problem at all, but, if it were included, it would be clear where it should be sorted (or that it should be left unsorted). A Bongard Problem like this can still be tagged "precise".

(If all examples are clearly sorted except for some example for which it is unclear whether it belongs to the class of relevant examples, the situation becomes ambiguous.)

On the other hand, sometimes the class of all examples is very clear, with an obvious boundary. (Keyword preciseworld.)


There is a subtle distinction to draw between Bongard Problems that are precise to the people making them and Bongard Problems that are precise to the people solving them. A Bongard Problem (particularly a non-allsorted one) might be labeled "precise" on the OEBP because the description and the listed ambiguous examples explicitly forbid sorting certain border cases; however, someone looking at the Bongard Problem without access to the OEBP page containing the definition would not be aware of this. It may or may not be obvious that certain examples were intentionally left out of the Bongard Problem. A larger collection of examples may make it more clear that a particularly blatant potential border case was left out intentionally.

CROSSREFS

See BP876 for the version with pictures of Bongard Problems instead of links to pages on the OEBP.

See both and neither for specific ways an example can be classified as unsorted in an "precise" Bongard Problem.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP503 BP504 BP505 BP506 BP507  *  BP509 BP510 BP511 BP512 BP513

KEYWORD

fuzzy, meta (see left/right), links, keyword, right-self, sideless

WORLD

bp [smaller | same | bigger]

AUTHOR

Aaron David Fairbanks

BP509 Bongard Problems that sort all relevant examples vs. Bongard Problems that would leave some unsorted.
BP1
BP3
BP31
BP103
BP312
BP321
BP322
BP329
BP334
BP376
BP384
BP386
BP389
BP390
BP527
BP557
BP559
BP560
BP564
BP569
BP576
BP788
BP820
BP856
BP863
BP891
BP897
BP898
BP905
BP922
BP934
BP935
BP937
BP945
BP949

. . .

BP292
BP508
BP509
BP961
BP1073
BP1208
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COMMENTS

Left-sorted Bongard Problems have the keyword "allsorted" on the OEBP.


A Bongard Problem is labelled "allsorted" when the type of thing it sorts is partitioned unambiguously and without exception into two groups.


Similarly to using the precise and fuzzy keywords, calling a Bongard Problem "allsorted" is a subjective/intuitive judgment. The collection of all relevant potential examples is not clearly delineated anywhere.

(Sometimes it's ambiguous whether to consider certain examples that are ambiguously sorted relevant.)


The solution to an "allsorted" Bongard Problem can usually be re-phrased as "___ vs. not so" (see the keyword notso).

But not every "___ vs. not so" Bongard Problem should be labelled "allsorted"; there could be ambiguous border cases in a "___ vs. not so" Bongard Problem.


Bongard Problems in which the two sides are so different that there is no middle ground between them (keyword gap) are sometimes still labelled "allsorted", since the intuitive pool of all relevant examples just amounts to the two unrelated sides. But some "gap" Bongard Problems are not like that; for example sometimes there are more related classes of examples besides the two shown.


Sometimes the class of all examples in a Bongard Problem is imprecise, but, despite that, the rule sorting those examples is precise. Say, for some potential new example, it is unclear whether it should be included in the Bongard Problem at all, but, if it were included, it would be clear where it should be sorted. A Bongard Problem like this can still be tagged "allsorted".

On the other hand, sometimes the class of all examples is very clear, with an obvious boundary. (Keyword preciseworld.)



In deciding where to sort an example, we think about it until we come to a conclusion; an example isn't here considered ambiguous just because someone might have a hard time with it (keyword hardsort).

However, sometimes the way a Bongard Problem would sort certain examples is an unsolved problem in mathematics, and it may be unknown whether there is even a solution. Whether or not such a Bongard Problem should be labelled "allsorted" might be debated.

(See the keyword proofsrequired.)

One way to resolve this ambiguity is to redefine "allsorted" as meaning that once people decide where an example belongs, it will be on one of the two sides, and they will all agree about it.



There is a distinction to be made between a non-"allsorted" Bongard Problem that could be made "allsorted" by making (finitely many) more examples sorted (thereby modifying or clarifying the solution of the Bongard Problem) and one such that this is not possible while maintaining a comparably simple solution. The former kind would often be labelled precise, in particular when these border cases have been explicitly forbidden from being sorted in the Bongard Problem's definition.

For instance, discrete Bongard Problems that are not allsorted usually fall into the former category.

CROSSREFS

See BP875 for the version with pictures of Bongard Problems instead of links to pages on the OEBP.

"Allsorted" implies precise.

"Allsorted" and both are mutually exclusive.

"Allsorted" and neither are mutually exclusive.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP504 BP505 BP506 BP507 BP508  *  BP510 BP511 BP512 BP513 BP514

KEYWORD

fuzzy, meta (see left/right), links, keyword, right-self, sideless, right-it, feedback

WORLD

bp [smaller | same | bigger]

AUTHOR

Aaron David Fairbanks

BP517 Meta Bongard Problems that sort themselves left vs. meta Bongard Problems that sort themselves right.
BP512
BP518
BP537
BP541
BP542
BP544
BP547
BP561
BP794
BP867
BP902
BP967
BP1000
BP1007
BP1074
BP1075
BP1113
BP1126
BP1150
BP1158
BP508
BP509
BP522
BP539
BP546
BP565
BP821
BP895
BP919
BP950
BP1162
BP1194
?
BP517
?
BP1073
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COMMENTS

Left-sorted BPs have the keyword "left-self" on the OEBP. Right-sorted BPs have the keyword "right-self."

These keywords are added to pages automatically.


Rhetorical questions: Where does this BP sort itself? Where does this BP sort the flipped version of itself?

CROSSREFS

See BP793 for the version sorting pictures of Bongard Problems (miniproblems) instead of links to pages on the OEBP.


See BP1075 for an example of a BP that is tagged "left-self" but would still be tagged "left-self" after the sides in the title were flipped. (This is unusual; a "left-self" BP after being flipped is typically "right-self" and vice versa.)

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP512 BP513 BP514 BP515 BP516  *  BP518 BP519 BP520 BP521 BP522

KEYWORD

nice, dual, meta (see left/right), links, keyword, side, metameta, feedback

WORLD

Multiple options:
linksbp [smaller | same | bigger],
bp_in_own_world [smaller | same | bigger]
zoom in left | zoom in right

AUTHOR

Aaron David Fairbanks

BP539 Meta Bongard Problems such that if the sides of an example Bongard Problem are switched its sorting within the meta Problem may switch vs. meta Bongard Problems that always sort flipped versions on the same side.
BP513
BP514
BP515
BP516
BP517
BP1073
BP1079
BP1081
BP1124
BP1159
BP1160
BP501
BP506
BP507
BP508
BP509
BP511
BP512
BP520
BP521
BP522
BP534
BP535
BP537
BP539
BP561
BP895
BP950
BP964
BP1010
BP1139
BP1140
BP1142
BP1167
BP1171
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COMMENTS

Left-sorted Bongard Problems have the keyword "side" on the OEBP.

Right-sorted Bongard Problems have the keyword "sideless" on the OEBP.


Here "flipping the sides" of a Bongard Problem does not flip the sides of the example BPs.

CROSSREFS

Metaconcept implies "sideless".

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP534 BP535 BP536 BP537 BP538  *  BP540 BP541 BP542 BP543 BP544

KEYWORD

meta (see left/right), links, keyword, right-self, sideless, invariance, metameta, left-it, feedback

AUTHOR

Aaron David Fairbanks

BP1194 Bongard Problems listed in Harry E. Foundalis's collection vs. not.
BP1
BP2
BP3
BP4
BP5
BP6
BP7
BP8
BP9
BP10
BP11
BP12
BP13
BP14
BP15
BP16
BP17
BP18
BP19
BP20
BP21
BP22
BP23
BP24
BP25
BP26
BP27
BP28
BP29
BP30
BP31
BP32
BP33
BP34
BP35

. . .

BP501
BP503
BP504
BP505
BP506
BP507
BP508
BP509
BP510
BP1194
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COMMENTS

Alternatively, BP pages on the OEBP with number less than or equal to 394 vs. other BP pages.

REFERENCE

https://www.foundalis.com/res/bps/bpidx.htm

CROSSREFS

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP1189 BP1190 BP1191 BP1192 BP1193  *  BP1195 BP1196 BP1197 BP1198 BP1199

EXAMPLE

Foundalis's collection includes all Bongard Problems by Bongard.

KEYWORD

meta (see left/right), links, right-self, time

AUTHOR

Aaron David Fairbanks

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