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Bunuel
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Consider Eric and joe as one person. Then we have total 2 persons to be seated.
No of ways of doing so = 2 ways
Now, Eric and joe could also be arranged in 2 different ways i.e Erik left to Joe and Erik right to Joe.
Hence, total ways = 2 x 2 = 4
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Listing combinations is one way to do it, however if the number would have been more than 3 people, it would get tricky. Using counting / selections formulas.

Lets give third person a name (T: Third Person)

Step 1: Combine Eric and Joe into one person [A]
Step 2: Arrange T & A -- 2! Ways
Step 3: Arrange Eric & Joe within A -- 2! Ways

Total ways : 2! * 2! ways.

This method can be scaled to larger numbers.

Hopefully that helps.
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