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

Arbitrary BPs often communicate non-arbitrary ideas. M. M. Bongard's original "A vs. Б" Problem (BP100) is about recognizing letters. A choice of some such arbitrary letters was necessary.

Most Bongard Problems are at least slightly arbitrary. Almost any Bongard Problem could be changed in a number of ways to make slightly different Bongard Problems. When a Bongard Problem is labeled as "arbitrary", that means there is one especially obvious class of similar Bongard Problems, with none of them particularly more interesting or special than any other.

The self-referential (invalid) Bongard Problems BP538, BP545, BP902, BP1073 fit this definition (the solution involves the arbitrary detail of being that specific Bongard Problem instead of any other). On the other hand, the solution idea is not arbitrary when phrased with "this Bongard Problem".

Many "arbitrary" Bongard Problems are of the form "Detail X has arbitrary value A vs. not so" or "Detail X has arbitrary value A vs. detail X has arbitrary value B". Other "arbitrary" Bongard Problems feature arbitrary details that are not the distinction between the sides, e.g. BP545.

It is unclear whether or not we should label a Bongard Problem "arbitrary" if the arbitrarily fixed detail is a notable special case. For example, BP1024 could have been made using any number, but the number 1 is a non-arbitrary number, so the Bongard Problem does not seem so arbitrary.

Similar to thespecificity concept BP (BP773), which is more general, including Bongard Problems relating conceptually in any way to arbitrary specificity.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP945 BP946 BP947 BP948 BP949  *  BP951 BP952 BP953 BP954 BP955

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

bp [smaller | same | bigger]

Aaron David Fairbanks

Left examples have the keyword "help" on the OEBP.

BPs should be marked "help" when the OEBP wants most examples (at least on one side) to be helpful (not when just one or two uploaded examples are helpful).

Helpfulness can be a spectrum; most Bongard Problems are helpful to some degree just by not using the most convoluted unintelligible examples possible.

Examples that are helpful to people are often not particularly helpful to computers.

Any helpful Bongard Problem has a harder, not helpful version. For example, BP384 (square number of dots versus non-square number of dots) would be much harder if all examples had hundreds of dots that weren't arranged recognizably. Instead, the dots in the examples are always arranged in shapes that make the square-ness or non-square-ness of the numbers easy to check without brute counting.

When all examples in a Bongard Problem are helpful, it may become unclear whether the helpfulness is part of the Bongard Problem's solution.

E.g.: Is the left-hand side of BP384 "square number of dots", or is it "square number of dots that are arranged in a helpful way so as to communicate the square-ness"?

See seemslike, where examples being helpful is an irremovable aspect of the Bongard Problem's solution.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP925 BP926 BP927 BP928 BP929  *  BP931 BP932 BP933 BP934 BP935

anticomputer, meta (see left/right), links, keyword, oebp, instruction

bppage [smaller | same | bigger]
zoom in left (help_bp)

Aaron David Fairbanks

Left examples have the keyword "sequence" on the OEBP.

Right examples have the keyword "fixedsequence" on the OEBP.

Zero, one, or two objects may technically form a sequence, but if ALL examples of a BP have zero, one, or two objects, we do not consider that BP to be about sequences. BPs about fixed two-object sequences are ordered pairwise comparison BPs, orderedpair.

The world of this Bongard Problem is BP928.

See also grid versus fixedgrid.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP924 BP925 BP926 BP927 BP928  *  BP930 BP931 BP932 BP933 BP934

meta (see left/right), links, keyword

sequence_visualbp [smaller | same | bigger]

Aaron David Fairbanks

Zero, one, or two objects may technically form a sequence, but if ALL examples of a BP have zero, one, or two objects, we do not consider that BP to be about sequences.

See BP929 for distinction between sequences of arbitrary length and sequences of fixed length (keywords "sequence" and "fixedsequence").

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP923 BP924 BP925 BP926 BP927  *  BP929 BP930 BP931 BP932 BP933

stub, meta (see left/right), links

bp [smaller | same | bigger]
zoom in left (sequence_visualbp)

Aaron David Fairbanks

Left examples have the keyword "contributepairs" on the OEBP.

When this keyword is added to a Problem, OEBP users are advised to add a corresponding right example for every left example they add and vice versa.

It is common for Bongard Problems to present left examples on the left side and corresponding altered versions of those examples on the right side, tweaked only slightly, to highlight the difference and make the solution easier to see (see keyword help).

This is common in more abstract Bongard Problems that admit a wide range of examples, a variety of different styles or types (e.g. BP360). Showing two versions of the same thing, one on the left and one on the right, helps a person interpret what that thing is meant to be in the context of the Bongard Problem; whatever qualities vary between the two in the pair must be relevant.

If a person cannot sort an example according to the solution property without seeing its corresponding opposite example, the Bongard Problem is invalid (see https://www.oebp.org/invalid.php ). There is no one rule dividing the sides; the solution is not a method to determine whether an arbitrary example fits left or right. See also Bongard Problems with the keyword collective, which are similarly borderline-invalid.

A BP in which each left example corresponds to a right example and vice versa could be remade as a Bongard Problem in which the left examples are the pairs. For example BP360 would turn into "a pair consisting of the ordered version of something and the chaotic version of the same thing vs. a pair of things not satisfying this relationship." This process would turn a Bongard Problem that is invalid in the sense described above into a valid one.

(See keyword orderedpair.)

In some "contributepairs" Bongard Problems there really is a natural choice of left version for every right example and vice versa (see keyword dual); in others the choice is artificially imposed by the Bongard Problem creator.

When "contributepairs" Bongard Problems are laid out in the format with a grid of boxes on either side of a dividing line, the boxes may be arranged so as to highlight the correspondence: either

A B | A B

E F | E F

G H | G H

or

A B | B A

E F | F E

G H | H G.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP914 BP915 BP916 BP917 BP918  *  BP920 BP921 BP922 BP923 BP924

meta (see left/right), links, keyword, oebp, right-self, instruction

bppage [smaller | same | bigger]
zoom in left (correspondence_bp)

Aaron David Fairbanks

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP909 BP910 BP911 BP912 BP913  *  BP915 BP916 BP917 BP918 BP919

meta (see left/right), links, metaconcept

bp [smaller | same | bigger]

Aaron David Fairbanks

Left examples have the keyword "perfect" on the OEBP.

Right examples have the keyword "ignoreimperfections".

Consider the difference in style between BP344 and BP24.

Hand-drawn figures in BPs are typically imperfect. A "circles vs. squares" BP may only show what are approximately circles and approximately squares. A pedant might append to the solutions of all Bongard Problems the caveat "...when figures are interpreted as the most obvious shapes they approximate."

This is the meaning of the label "ignoreimperfections". On the other hand, the label "perfect" means even the pedant would drop this caveat; either all the images are precise, or precision doesn't matter (see also keyword stable).

Even in BPs tagged "perfect", the tiny rough edges caused by image pixelation are not expected to matter. If the OEBP would indeed prefer users only upload pixel-perfect examples, a BP can be tagged with the stricter keyword pixelperfect.

E.g., for BPs having to do with smooth curves and lines, "perfect" only requires images offer the best possible approximation of those intended shapes given the resolution.

Most Bongard Problems involving small details at all would be tagged "perfect". However, this is not always so; sometimes the small details are intended to be noticed, but certain imperfections are still intended to be overlooked.

BP119 ("small correction results in circle vs. not") is an interesting example: imperfections matter with respect to the outline being closed, but imperfections do not matter with respect to circular-ness.

If a Bongard Problem on the OEBP is tagged "ignoreimperfections" -- i.e., it has imperfect hand drawings -- then other keywords are generally applied relative to the intended idea, a corrected version sans imperfect hand drawings. (For example, this is how the keywords precise and stable are applied. Alternative versions of these keywords, which factor in imperfect hand drawings, could be made instead, but that would be less useful.)

It may be better to change the definition of "perfect" so it only applies to Bongard Problems such that small changes can potentially switch an example's side / remove it from the Bongard Problem. That would cut down on the number of Bongard Problems to label "perfect". There isn't currently a single keyword for "small changes can potentially switch an example's side / remove it from the Bongard Problem", but this is basically captured by unstable or unstableworld. There is also deformunstable which uses a different notion of "small change". - Aaron David Fairbanks, Jun 16 2023

See BP508 for discussion of this topic in relation to Bongard Problems tagged precise.

Stable Bongard Problems are generally "perfect".

Pixelperfect implies "perfect".

The keywords proofsrequired and noproofs (BP1125) have a similar relationship: "noproofs" indicates a lenience for a certain kind of imperfection.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP908 BP909 BP910 BP911 BP912  *  BP914 BP915 BP916 BP917 BP918

Many Bongard Problems involving properties of curves (e.g. BP62) really are about those wiggly, imperfect curves; they qualify as "perfect" problems. On the other hand, Bongard Problems involving polygons, (e.g. BP5) often show only approximately-straight lines; they are not "perfect" problems.

meta (see left/right), links, keyword, wellfounded

visualbp [smaller | same | bigger]
zoom in left (perfect_bp)

Aaron David Fairbanks

One left and one right example with each solution are shown for help.

This BP is fuzzy for multiple reasons. How obvious it is that an example fits a rule is subjective. Also, somebody could read the simplicity of all included examples as part of a Bongard Problem's solution. For example, the more obvious version of "square number of dots vs. non-square number of dots" could be interpreted as "square small number of dots arranged in easy-to-read way vs. non-square small number of dots arranged in easy-to-read way."

Whether this Bongard Problem solution would categorize an image of itself left or right depends on the difficulty of the solutions of the mini-Problems.

See keyword help.

See keyword hardsort.

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP889 BP890 BP891 BP892 BP893  *  BP895 BP896 BP897 BP898 BP899

fuzzy, abstract, notso, subjective, meta (see left/right), miniproblems, creativeexamples, presentationmatters, assumesfamiliarity, structure, contributepairs

boxes_bpimage_three_per_side [smaller | same | bigger]

Aaron David Fairbanks

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP883 BP884 BP885 BP886 BP887  *  BP889 BP890 BP891 BP892 BP893

meta (see left/right), links, metameta

metaconcept [smaller | same | bigger]

Aaron David Fairbanks

Adjacent-numbered pages:
BP882 BP883 BP884 BP885 BP886  *  BP888 BP889 BP890 BP891 BP892

meta (see left/right), links, metaconcept

bp [smaller | same | bigger]

Aaron David Fairbanks