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For four or more sets, we do not write down a formula for PIE. Instead, we just think of the principle: add up all the elements in single sets, then subtract out things you counted twice (elements in the intersection of a pair of sets), then add back in elements you removed too often (elements in the intersection of groups of three sets), then take back out elements you added back in too often (elements in the intersection of groups of four sets), then add back in, take back out, add back in, etc. This would be very difficult if it wasn't for the fact that in these problems, all the cardinalities of the single sets are equal, as are all the cardinalities of the intersections of two sets, and that of three sets, and so on. Thus we can group all of these together and multiply by how many different combinations of 1, 2, 3, … sets there are.

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