"Is it easier to ride a bike: to the river or back?" - a rhetorical question often asked in forums. The question itself is laconic, and there can be any number of answers to it, from banal to very original.
Instructions
Step 1
The respondent, who lacks both a sense of humor and imagination, will say: "It's over, to the river." And from a logical point of view, it will be absolutely right. After all, you go downhill to the river, and back uphill. And it's always easier to go downhill.
Step 2
The more caustic, but continuing to be guided exclusively by logic, the respondent will add: everything depends on additional conditions. The road to the river can consist of sections with different elevation differences. Driving along some of them is easier, others more difficult. And only the last of the sections will have to go downhill. And the road back will differ only in that these sections will have to be overcome in the reverse order. The wind can also blow in different directions. If it is strong enough, and when driving to the river you have to go against the wind, and back - in the wind, then going back may be easier, despite the need to go uphill.
Step 3
Much also depends on what you went to the river for. If you swim, ride a boat, then you will go back tired. And if you sunbathe or fish - rested. Although, if you have caught a lot of fish, it can be difficult to transport it. Or maybe you went to the river with a backpack full of sandwiches, and back - light. It is also unknown what you did before the bike ride. If we chopped wood, and then rested by the river, it will be easier to drive back than to the river.
Step 4
Answering this question, it is often forgotten that a passenger can ride a bicycle while sitting on the trunk. In this case, it will be equally easy to go to the river and back. It is also important to have incentives to travel. Perhaps your beloved is waiting for you by the river, or perhaps she is waiting for your arrival with the caught fish at home. Finally, the question does not say a word about whether the cyclist will go to the river and back the same route or to the river with one and back with another.
Step 5
So there can be many factors, their combinations - even more, and all this to one degree or another determines the answer to this seemingly simple question. In such cases, information theorists say that the question is not fully formulated, and additional information is needed to answer it.
