What is 2 + 2?

An assemblage of the greatest minds in the world was gathered at a conference to solve this age-old and profound question. Here were the responses from the experts:

Accountant: "2 + 2 = 4.45, with GST and PST included."

Archeologist: "2 + 2 is between 10000 and 20000 using carbon dating technique."

Biologist: "The question doesn't make sense: you can't cross two inorganic things together..."

Chemist: Goes and mixes solutions of red, green, and yellow together which results in a series of explosions; does some calculations and announces, "At room temperature, 2 + 2 = 3.1 plus or minus 5 parts per million. Hold on... that doesn't seem right... hmm..."

Computer Programmer: "This is a very difficult problem. Let me write a program to solve it." He goes and writes a program and executes it. The output reads: "2 + 2 is... Segmentation fault. Core dump."

Computer Programmer (Unix): Goes and writes a program called "2plus2" with the command syntax:

    2plus2 -n1 first_number -n2 second_number -o operation
    YY-pPq Y-r ! -st output_format Y-l landscape ! -p portrait
    Y-R round_up_digits Y-l Yo ! n optimization Y-B Yb ! d ! x
    ! o base_radix Y-i$ iterations Y-gYx ! y graphic_output
    Y-fn filename Y-t batch_job Y-bp beep Y-r randomize
    Y-g guess Y-h hog_CPU Y-a abort

Upon execution, the output reads: "Bad command. Not enough arguments."

Computer Programmer (Windows 95): The program output reads: "2 + 2 is... Please wait..."

Doctor: "I once memorized the answer before and I think it's 4. Wait, or was that 1 + 3? Nope, 3 + 1? 2 * 2? Hmm, I'm not sure. Looks like I'll have to dig out the Medical Handbook. Excuse me..."

Economist: Draws a graph projection of the result over the 1985 - 1999 period which looks like this:

           10 +  !                    oooo    o
                 !           o      o     o  o o  o
                 !          o  o    o      o    o
sum (2+2)   5 +  !o     o o  o   oooo

                 ! o    o  o
                 !   ooo
              0 +---------+---------+---------+
         Year:  '85       '90       '95       '99

** 1985-1999 World Projection of (2+2) Assuming
** Stable World Economy and 4.5% Annual Inflation Rate

Engineer, Civil: "About 5." (And this is why all engineers now have to wear an iron ring.)

Engineer, Electrical: "Where's my @#*& calculator?"

Historian: "Gentlemen, this is a historic moment. We're on the verge of making history. So what's the answer gonna be?" (Everyone ignores him and goes on with the debate.)

Lawyer: Shuts all the doors and windows, glances back and forth, then whispers, "Well what do you want it to be?"

Mathematician: Cogitates for a while, completely oblivious to the rest of the world, then returns with his hair all tangled up and declares, "I don't know the answer but I can prove that the solution exists and converges."

Philosopher: "Gentlemen, the question is not 'WHAT is 2 + 2' but 'WHY is 2 + 2'"

Physicist: Goes and performs the most complicated calculations using the Theory of Relativity, and announces: "2 + 2 = pi plus or minus pi."

Politician: "What does the poll say?"

Psychiatrist: "The answer is negative 4 or positive 4 depending on your mood swing."