Because "one of the dice is a 6" is different than "the first die is a six".
There is no 'first' in the context of rolling dice. Ever. The only place that the dice are not interchangeable are in probability questions that confuse poor wording for educational value. In every context of rolling dice aside from "nitpicky questions that confuse poor communication for cleverness", you never need to know which of the dice is six, you just need to know that a six is one of the two showing faces.
For example, if you even made vaguely that you're concerned about which of the dice is six, then I would immediately say "oh, he's not talking about normal usage of dice," then I and many others would do the math differently. I assumed you were trying to communicate clearly, in which case one can assume the normal convention of rolling dice-- two undifferentiated dice. Inserting the preoccupation with which die shows which face is intellectually dishonest.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-18 09:03 pm (UTC)There is no 'first' in the context of rolling dice. Ever. The only place that the dice are not interchangeable are in probability questions that confuse poor wording for educational value. In every context of rolling dice aside from "nitpicky questions that confuse poor communication for cleverness", you never need to know which of the dice is six, you just need to know that a six is one of the two showing faces.
For example, if you even made vaguely that you're concerned about which of the dice is six, then I would immediately say "oh, he's not talking about normal usage of dice," then I and many others would do the math differently. I assumed you were trying to communicate clearly, in which case one can assume the normal convention of rolling dice-- two undifferentiated dice. Inserting the preoccupation with which die shows which face is intellectually dishonest.