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
It means it’s not a superposition. You can be both tall and short. Someone taller than you makes you shorter than them, and vice versa.
But you cannot be both male and female unless you have a rare genetic condition.
A coupe is not a sedan. And a truck can’t be a rabbit. Mutual exclusivity implies that the descriptors used cannot exist without the other.
A PlayStation is not an Xbox, but they are both video game consoles.
Your feet can never be your head, but you can stand on your head.
You can shoot a gun and shoot a picture but you can’t fire a picture.
Holes are not flat ground. Sky is not earth, Heads is not Tails. Top is not bottom. If you flip a car over, the roof is now on the bottom but it is still the roof.
Golf is not football, but it is a sport.
Mutually exclusive implies a very specific relationship between two objects at a specific level. Generalizing terms are more of a superposition encompassing multiple things at a generalized level.
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