eli5 : Mutually Exclusive

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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.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

For a light switch, on and off are mutually exclusive; it can’t be both at once. Each state excludes the other, that’s why the relationship is mutual.

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