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BP841 Any relationship that exists between one object and another exists between each object and some other versus not so.
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For example, in a picture on the left of this Bongard Problem, if object A turned 90 degrees clockwise is object B, then there is also an object C which is B turned 90 degrees clockwise.


Positioning is irrelevant.


In all images, any pair of objects ought to be related in a unique (most intuitive) way. Furthermore, one object is not allowed to be related to two distinct objects by the same relationship. Even for images on the right, each analogy of objects A:B::C:_ should have one clear answer, although that object is perhaps missing.


Relationships described by "[undo-able action] applied to ___ is ___" will always form what in mathematics is called a "group". These relationships can be chained one after another to form a total relationship (turn 90 degrees clockwise + turn 90 degrees clockwise = turn 180 degrees), and each relationship has an "inverse" relationship that undoes it and vice versa (turn 90 degrees clockwise + turn 90 degrees counterclockwise = do nothing).

(Moreover actions are by nature associative.)


Sometimes the relationships in a picture wouldn't be consistently read the same way by everybody. For example, if there is a picture showing an L shape next to all vertical and horizontal reflections and 90 degree rotations of it, somebody might read

⅃ L

to be the same relationship as

┗━

┏━.

Meanwhile, someone else might think ⅃ L should be called the same relationship as ┗━ ━┛. There is a conflict between "flipping over the vertical line within the letter 'L'" and "flipping over a vertical line in the background space."


Likewise in any illustration of related objects (as in this Bongard Problem) people might interpret [the transformation that sends A to B] as analogous to [the transformation that sends [transformation x applied to A] to [transformation x applied to B] ].


A "commutative" (also called "abelian") group is a group in which there is no difference between the two in each case. Displayed using pictures like the ones in this Bongard Problem, only commutative groups of relationships can be expected to be read consistently by people.

REFERENCE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_(mathematics)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelian_group

CROSSREFS

See BP842 and BP840 for versions about particular groups.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP836 BP837 BP838 BP839 BP840  *  BP842 BP843 BP844 BP845 BP846

KEYWORD

nice, rules, miniworlds

WORLD

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AUTHOR

Aaron David Fairbanks

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