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Subject: 
Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.geek
Date: 
Tue, 4 Mar 2003 21:16:03 GMT
Viewed: 
451 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, David Koudys writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Larry Pieniazek writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, David Koudys writes:

I still like the 50 percent possibility tho.

Liking it or not is irrelevant. The probabilities are what they are.

And the answer is still 2/3 if you switch, given the premises. No matter
whether you like it or not.

Go to the site I gave you and read what is written there.

Got it...

Goes into a fairly comprehensible walk-thru, but the point that makes it
obvious (as stated) is:

"
Imagine that there were a million doors. Also, after you have chosen your
door; Monty opens all but one of the remaining doors, showing you that they
are "losers." It's obvious that your first choice is wildly unlikely to have
been right. And isn't it obvious that of the other 999,999 doors that you
didn't choose; the one that he didn't open is wildly likely to be the one
with the prize?
"

I like it.

I renounce my 50/50

Dave K

I think I may have found the fallacy...
(indulge me if you please)

Here's a bag with 3 marbles in it--2 are red (goats, whatever), one is white
(brand new car)

Pick a random one out of the bag and hold it in your hand--don't look at it!
What's the chances that it's white (the winner)?

hand  left in bag
r1    r2 w
r2    r1 w
w     r1 r2  Winner!

I think we all agree it's 33 percent.

Now I'm going to take a red one out of the bag, so there's only one marble
left in the bag--now you have a choice to keep the marble in your hand, or
swap it for the one in the bag--

What are the results?

First, one red is eliminated--
hand  left in bag
r1    *r2* w
*r2*    r1 w  -cannot be a possibility for r2 is pulled out of the bag
w     r1 *r2*  Winner!

Leaving---
hand  left in bag
r1    w
w     r1

Not swapping--50/50
Swapping (obviously) 50/50


Now let's change the story--there are 4 balls in the bag, one is white, the
rest are red...

You are told to grab one and not look--chances that it's white, 1 in 4, or
25 percent

hand  in bag
r1    r2 r3 w
r2    r1 r3 w
r3    r1 r2 w
w     r1 r2 r3 winner!

Now I remove 1 red from the bag, and give you the option to switch (again,
lets say the last red)

hand  in bag
r1    r2 *r3* w
r2    r1 *r3* w
*r3*    r1 r2 w - read above--cannot be a possibility
w     r1 r2 *r3*

Leaving

hand  in bag
r1    r2 w
r2    r1 w
w     r1 r2 Winner

1 in 3, or 33 percent--for not swapping--swapping is still 33 percent

So I'd say logically, if you continue this out to 'You have 1000 balls in a
bag, 999 are red and 1 is white, the chances of you picking the white one
right out of the bag is 1 in 1000

If I remove a red ball from the bag, you're chances are now 1 in 998 that
you have the white one, and if you swap, it's still 1 in 998

I think--this is fun to wrap my mind around...

Dave K



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
 
(...) Nope, you're assuming that the marble pulled out of the bag is r2. It might be r1. Better to leave off the numbers, as the red marbles are not distinct. hand bag r r w r r w w r r remove a red from the bag and it reduces to: hand bag r w r w w (...) (22 years ago, 4-Mar-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
 
(...) Got it... Goes into a fairly comprehensible walk-thru, but the point that makes it obvious (as stated) is: " Imagine that there were a million doors. Also, after you have chosen your door; Monty opens all but one of the remaining doors, (...) (22 years ago, 4-Mar-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

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