I’m sorry if this seems dumb. I tend to take things literally and “mutual” and “exclusive” seem to be antonyms but mutually exclusive is a term used a lot and it confuses the crap out of me. I’m a native English speaker also.
Does it mean that the two things CAN exist together? I feel like my brain does gymnastics trying to understand the term; I’m not a dumb person but this term just totally eludes me!
Please don’t attack me, just trying to not feel stupid.
In: 49
So **mutual**, that they share something in common.
**Exclusive**, that there’s one of a kind, has one of a kind, or is lacking everything else.
The opposite of one (**exclusive**) is several (**mutual**), hence the antonym of **exclusive** is **mutual**.
This part you get.
What you seem to struggle is with “**mutually exclusive**”.
>In plain words this means `thing A` has nothing to do with `thing B` *and* `thing B` has nothing to do with `thing A` .
>
>That one (`thing A`) can *only* consist of things the other (`thing B`) does not. This naturally yields both ways.
If that was not ELI5, this is:
In a **mutually exclusive** relation they are **exclusive** of each other. That is why it is **mutual**. The things one is composed of can be anything, just not anything the other has. If they do have something in common they are not longer **exclusive** of each other.
Mario sells food and drinks.
Luigi sells shoes and clothes.
Mario and Luigi are **mutually exclusive** in “*what they sell*”. Why did I highlight “*what they sell*”? Because it is all about *perspective*.
Mario and Luigi both “*sell stuff*”. They are **mutual** in that sense. But so long as they don’t sell the same stuff, they are **mutually exclusive** in the sense of “*what they sell*”.
Now, Wario could be selling drinks and motocross tickets.
Mario and Wario are **NOT mutually exclusive** in “*what they sell*”, as they both sell drinks.
But Luigi and Wario are **mutually exclusive** in “*what they sell*”, as they sell different stuff altogether.
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