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Statistical Question


Obnoxious

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Suppose you have a nine out of nine chance to be hit in the head by a flying hippo today, is it possible that you won't? I think it is.

A thought experiment: You are taking a fill-in-the-blank math test, however, you have no idea what the problem is saying, or what the solution could be...So you guess. In theory, you chances of getting the right answer is one out of infinite. However, as practice has shown, people do in fact guess right ocassionally...How is this possible?

And since it is indeed possible, that one out of infinite is not in fact zero, then perhaps it is also possible that .9 vinculum (sp?) is in fact, not 100%.

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Suppose you have a nine out of nine chance to be hit in the head by a flying hippo today, is it possible that you won't? I think it is.

THis pretty muchs defeats the meaning of nine out of nine, doesn't it?

 

In theory, you chances of getting the right answer is one out of infinite.

I suggest that you adopt a different theory.

 

I see that statistics is not your strong suit. Do you agree?

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Well, I was thinking that since 9/9 is .9 vinculum,

Close.

then 1/infinity is zero because the one (or for that matter, any number) is nowhere close to the size of infinity. Is it?

What makes you think that the large number of potential responses is infinite? I disagree that there are infinite choices, and I disgree that the available choices have an equal probability of being correct.

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If you have 9 balls in a barrel, and all 9 are red, then the proportion of balls in that sample that are red is 100%. Therefore, if you reach in to the barrel and pull one out at random, the probability it will be red is also 100%.

 

The same applies for flying hippos. A nine out of nine chance means that there are nine flying hippos (so the proportion of flying hippos in that sample of nine is 100%), and if each one is going to hit you then the chances of being hit by a flying hippo is also 100%.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's OK for you guys, but I've got a gash on my forehead from where the right hoof of the dratted hippo caught me a glancing blow, and the chaise lounge that it landed on will never be the same again. I wish you had been right obnoxious, but sadly not.

[Can anyone tell me if hippo urine is alkaline or acidic. I still have some hopes of getting the stains out of the carpet.]

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