It’s one of those phrases I just kinda nod my head and go “yeah” when I hear it. I’ve looked it up before, but the definition never stuck. Same thing happened with “survivorship bias,” but I eventually figured that one out.
I guess I need it explained in a different way for it to stick.
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Two things are mutually exclusive if it’s possible to have one or the other but not both at the same time.
For example, sleeping and awake are mutually exclusive states (I cannot simultaneously be sleeping and awake). Sleeping and being on the train are not mutually exclusive states (I can be sleeping on the train).
Mutual exclusivity is when a thing can be either A or B, but if it’s A then the very fact that it’s A means that it can’t be B (and vice versa).
Let’s say you have a pet. I ask if it’s a dog or if it’s brown. It could possibly be a brown dog, so those choices *aren’t* mutually exclusive. However, if I ask you if it’s a dog or cat those *are* mutually exclusive: if it’s a dog it cannot possibly be a cat, and if it’s a cat it cannot possibly be a dog.
Mutual exclusivity refers to two things that cannot be possible at the same time. If A and B are mutually exclusive, then there’s something inherent in their relationship that makes both existing at the same time impossible.
Here’s a perfect example, with a classic turn of phrase: “you can’t eat your cake and have it too”
Those conditions are exclusive – you either have cake or you ate it, can’t have both! They’re mutually exclusive
“Mutually exclusive” means than picking either A or B will *exclude* the other one.
“Save the last slice of pizza for later” and “eat the last slice of pizza now” are mutually exclusive. If you save it for later, than you *can’t* eat it now. If you eat it now, then you *can’t* save it for later. Picking either option *excludes* the other.
Mutual exclusivity just means that two things can’t happen at the same time. If one thing happens, the other one can’t.
Think of it like flipping a coin. It can land on heads or tails, but not both. So, heads and tails are mutually exclusive.
Same goes for something like deciding whether to go to the movies or stay home. You can’t do both at once, so those options are mutually exclusive.
Mutual exclusivity means two things which cannot happen or be true at the same time. The implication of this is also that if one of the the thing has happened, the other did not happen.
People misuse this term all the time to mean “these two things are unrelated or don’t affect each other”, which is a wrong way to use the term.
It means both things can’t be true/exist at the same time. Example, if you flip a coin, it will either come up heads or tails, but it will not come up both heads and tails. It has to be one or the other
Old timey car radio buttons *(or, more modern, `RadioButton` controls on a web page)*.
You push one button in and any other pushed-in button pops back out. You are only allowed to have one button selected at a time.
Each button is an exclusive state. So any two buttons are mutually exclusive.
The samething happens with the flip of a coin. The “heads” choice and the “tails” choice cannot BOTH happen at the same time for one coin, so on that coin, they are mutually exclusive.
Mutually exclusive means, out of two things, only one can happen at a time.
A light being on or off, for example.
What’s probably confusing is people usually use this phrase as ‘they’re not mutually exclusive.’
So if you’re in an argument and someone says that, it means the opposite. ‘you said you love me but you hung out with that girl yesterday.’
“Yeah, they’re not mutually exclusive.” Meaning you can hang out with another girl and still be in love with that person.
Edit to say, mutually exclusive comes from math terms, I believe. Exclusive means something is not included ( like () on a number line means that the endpoints are excluded), and mutually exclusive just means both things being looked at don’t include the other (a light being on doesn’t include the light being off and the light being off doesn’t include the light being on).
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