# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 258): Kevin Sharp

Let $P$ be the set of all people, and let $K(x)$ be the statement “$x$ knows it.” Translate the logical statement

$K(I) \land \forall x \in P (x \ne I \Longrightarrow \sim{K(x)})$

This matches the refrain from the sad country ballad “Nobody Knows” by Kevin Sharp.

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 257): The Wizard of Oz

Let $P$ be the set of all places, and let $H(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is like home.” Translate the logical statement

$\sim \exists x in P (H(x))$

Of course, this matches the famous line from “The Wizard of Oz.”

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 256): Nena

Let $T$ be the set of all times, let $P$ be the set of all places, and let $C(x,t)$ be the statement “I will you build you a castle out of sand at place $x$ and time $t$. Translate the logical statement

$\exists x \in P \exists t \in T (C(x,t))$

This matches the first line of the chorus of “Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann” by Nena.

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 255): The Nightmare Before Christmas

Let $p$ be the statement “I can see it,” and let \$latex q” be the statement “I can believe it.” Translate the logical statement

$\sim ( \sim p \Longrightarrow \sim q)$

This matches a line from “Jack’s Obsession” in the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” (It’s also a good exercise in using DeMorgan’s Laws.)

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 254): The Rolling Stones

Let $T$ be the set of all times, let $H$ be the set of all things, let $W(x,t)$ be the statement “I need $x$ at time $t$,” and let $G(x,t)$ be the statement “I get $x$ at time $t$.” Translate the logical statement

$\sim \forall t \in T \forall x \in H (W(x,t) \Longrightarrow G(x,t))$

This matches the title and chorus of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones.

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 253): Brad Paisley

Let $p$ be the proposition “I love her,” and let $q$ be the statement “I love to fish.” Translate the logical statement

$p \land q$

This matches the opening words of Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” providing a light-hearted example of how the conjunction but is nevertheless translated as $\land$.

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 252): The Two Towers

Let $p$ be the statement “I fear death,” and let $q$ be the statement “I fear pain.” Translate the logical statement

$\lnot p \land \lnot q$

This matches one of the great lines of $\acute{\rm{E}}$owyn, shieldmaiden of Rohan, in the book The Two Towers.

Context: Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 251): Animaniacs

“Survey Ladies” is one of the classics shorts from the 90s cartoon Animaniacs. While none of the survey questions can be stated in predicate logic (after all, they’re questions), there are many, many silly and somewhat repetitive statements that can be motivated by this cartoon:

Let $P$ be the set of all people, let $M(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is watching a movie,” let $B(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is eating beans,” and let $G(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is with George Wendt.” Translate the following into symbolic logic:

• Nobody is eating beans
• Somebody is with George Wendt.
• Somebody is not watching a movie.
• Everyone watching a movie is eating beans.
• Nobody watching a movie is with George Wendt.
• Somebody is watching a movie but is not with George Wendt.
• Nobody is both eating beans and is with George Wendt.
• Everyone is watching a movie and is eating beans.

I’ll also share this for anyone who doesn’t remember the greatness of George Wendt:

Context: Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 250): Marvin Gaye

Let $T$ be the set of all things, let $M(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is a mountain,” let $V(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is a valley,” let $R(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is a river,” let $H(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is high enough to keep me from getting to you, baby,” let $L(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is low enough to keep me from getting to you, baby,” and let $W(x)$ be the statement “$x$ is wide enough to keep me from getting to you, baby.” Translate the logical statement

$\sim \exists x \in T ((M(x) \land H(x)) \land (V(x) \land L(x)) \land (R(x) \land W(x)))$

This matches the chorus of the timeless “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye, which has increased in popularity in recent years thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Context: Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

# Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 249): Billy Joel

Let $p$ be the statement “We started the fire,” let $q$ be the statement “We lit the fire,” and let $r$ be the statement “We tried to fight the fire.” Translate the logical statement

$\sim p \land \sim q \land r$

This matches part of the chorus of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel.

Context: Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.