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
Being a husband and being a victim are not mutually exclusive. (A man can be both.)
A man being in orbit around the earth right now and also being in a submarine in the Pacific Ocean are mutually exclusive. (A man can’t be both.)
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.
“Mutually exclusive” means either one can negate the other.
If the waiter asks if you want “soup or salad,” the options are mutually exclusive, because if you order soup it means no salad, and if you order salad it means soup.
Sometimes, an option is exclusive of another option, but they aren’t not mutually exclusive. for example “it is not raining” is not mutually exclusive with “the ground is not wet”. It is possible for the ground to be wet from a sprinkler or a flood. So “it is not raining” is exclusive of “the ground is not wet,” since raining makes the ground wet, but it is not *mutually* exclusive.
In this case, “mutually” is referring to the property of exclusivity. The terms “symmetrical” or “reciprocal” would also mean the same thing.
If you can have a soup or a salad with your meal, they are mutually exclusive because choosing each one excludes the possibility of you having the other. Because both of them share a property that is reflective of your ability to also choose the other, that exclusivity is mutual. Hence, mutually exclusive.
In plain english, “exclusive” is sort of vague, and not absolute. If an event is ‘exclusive’ it just means “hard to get into to” not “they literally exclude everyone”.
Mutual means “held in common by two or more parties.”
Mutual exclusion is when the exclusion is more severe, but limited to the set of things we’re talking about.
If two things are mutually exclusive, they exclude each other, but not necesarrily exclude other things.
e.g.
So if two events are “mutually exclusive”for you, then it might mean you can’t attend both (perhaps they are scheduled for exactly the same time and are far way from each other, or you can only afford 1 ticket.
However, neither event is particularly ‘exclusive’ in general.
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Also, I think ‘mutually exclusive’ is as a phrase tends to be a more mathematical/logical/absolute statement.
I had this confusion when i was studying financial planning. Two terms were used often. “Independent” and “mutually exclusive.” Naturally got the explanation that mutually exclusive means that if one thing is done, the other cannot happen.
Skimmed the replies, didn’t see anyone dealing with the definitions so here you go. I think you’re getting hung up on “mutual.” Definition:
>experienced or done by each of two or more parties toward the other or others
So if I hate you but you don’t hate me, that’s not mutual. Hence the phrase “the feeling is mutual.”
This also works for other kinds of relationships such as categorization. Let’s look at the phrase “mutually inclusive.” All squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. The definition of rectangle is inclusive of squares but that RELATIONSHIP is not mutual in the way that squares and circles would be mutually exclusive.
Now let’s say I make a pub that requires all customers to wear a specific branded shirt at all times. Down the street is another pub with no such restriction. Any given customer of that other pub would (likely) be banned from entering mine, but all of my customers would be welcome there regardless. Exclusive but not mutual.
Important to remember that both of the terms are about relationships between things. In/exclusive is pretty easy to notice, then it’s simply mutual if that status is reciprocated between both parties.
Here’s how I remember it for computer science problems:
“You can have an apple or an orange.” In normal conversation would mean pick one of the two. In computer science it means as long as you’ve picked AT LEAST one the the fruits, the statement “did he pick an apple or an orange?” Is true because OR in computer science is not mutually exclusive.
We have an XOR which is more of the conversational version of OR.
So, we would say false to the previous statement with a mutually exclusive or if they picked more than one of the fruits.
Both options are possible, but if you have one, you can’t have the other. Example: if you take the car to go from A to B, you can’t take the bus at the same time and vice versa.
You canhave blue eyes or brown eyes but you cant have both. Unless you got heterochromia but that’s exceptional
One party + another party can MUTUALLY (both parties) have an EXCLUSIVE relationship.
Does that help?
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