According to official sources, the world’s 7 billionth person was born today. This is a fiction. The goal is to raise awareness about the world’s population. It’s working – the news seems to be all over the blogosphere.
Posts Tagged ‘probability’
The Math Of “Collect All 12″
18
Sep
“Free toy in every pack! Collect all 12!”
Have you ever wondered why companies offer promotions like this? How many packets of cereal would you have to buy to have a decent chance of collecting all twelve? Let’s see what the math says!
Dice and Polynomials – Part 1
21
Aug
Can polynomials help calculate probabilities?
Imagine you have two coins. One side is blank, and one has a single dot. You flip the coins. How many ways can you get 0 dots? How many ways can you get 1 dot? How many ways can you get 2 dots?
If you got answers like “1 way / 2 ways / 1 way” you got it right.
The Math of Conspiracies and Doomsdays
22
May
Yesterday was my grandfather’s 105th birthday party. He actually turns 105 tomorrow, on the 23rd of May. Yesterday was also supposed to be the end of the world, according to a very small splinter group of Christians. Clearly, the guy who made that prediction was thoroughly convinced, and thoroughly wrong.
Why do people make predictions like that? Let’s see what the math says! But first, more about my grandfather’s birthday party…
Dinosaur Dodger Tips and Strategy
01
Mar
I recently uploaded a game I call “Dinosaur Dodger“. It’s based on an interesting paradox I read about on this blog, by an economist who has authored a number of good books. The paradox is called the “Paradox of the Absent Minded Driver”. It goes like this : imagine a driver, driving home along a highway. They need to take the second exit to get off, but for some reason they can’t recall which exit they are at when they get to an exit.
The Absent Minded Driver paradox, and Dinosaur Didger, involve finding the best strategy to get home on this track
Paul the Lucky Octopus
09
Jul
According to the news, there’s a psychic octopus in Germany. Apparently, Paul the Octopus is able to predict the outcome of the FIFA world cup games. Well, they don’t actually know the octopus is psychic – maybe he’s just very good at analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the various teams. Or maybe he’s just lucky.