No April foolery stuff here, but scratch your head about this. . .
The news media is making a big deal about the lottery winner who
stepped out of line to get a candy bar and then someone stepped in
liine ahead of him. The insinuation is that had the guy not cut in
line, the candy bar guy would not have won. I believe this is a false
concept mathematically because every play of the lottery is random. I
believe that the media is leading people astray in the mathematical
reasoning behind this situation. It does make for good stories about
not cutting in line and being a good citizen, but I don't believe the
math supports the media story.
To me this is like stepping to the counter, a new deck of cards is
opened, shuffled, and I get to pick a card. When the guy behind me
has his turn, a new deck is opened, shuffled and a card given to him.
There's no connection between my number and his. Or my place in line,
or the day of the week or . . . anything. We just want to organize "random."
My wife says I'm wrong. LOL What do you say?
Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006 at N07/sets/
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