Posted inFun
How’d We Do On Our 2018 Predictions?
How'd we do? Let me put it this way: the Magic 8 Ball is in no danger of losing its position as top soothsayer. We were game, but overall there…
Posted inFun
Register Your Predictions For 2019!
As has been our tradition these many years, it's time to register our predictions for the coming year. We look at how well we did last year tomorrow. Rules: Number…
Posted inStatistics
The Probability Of Your Existence
A version of this column originally ran 7 July 2014. To the nearest order of magnitude, there have existed, including us, about 100 billion human beings. This proves what was…
Posted inStatistics
The Monty Hall Problem — Solved!
In honor of Monty Hall, who passed away this past weekend (in October 2017), this classic article (which ran long ago, the date lost due to the hacking, solving his…
Posted inStatistics
How Many Geniuses Are There?
This post originally appeared 15 September 2008. Here is a question I often give on exams: What is the probability that the next child to be born will be a…
Posted inFun Statistics
The Probability of Monkeys Typing Shakespeare
This article, which originally appeared 20 May 2010, was inspired by reading Fredwin On Evolution, as wisely suggested by reader Bob Ludwick. At the bottom of Fred's piece, there appears…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Dutch Book: Or, How to Gamble
This post first appeared sometime before 2012, but I lost the original date due to the hacking. If you are a gambler, you'll be delighted to learn that there is…
Posted inStatistics
Poem Codes
This post originally ran 2 September 2009. My favorite joke: Two cannibals are eating a clown and one says to the other, "qbrf guvf gnfgr shaal gb lbh?" Ha ha!…