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Subject: 
Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.geek
Date: 
Tue, 4 Mar 2003 21:53:59 GMT
Viewed: 
431 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, James Brown writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, David Koudys writes:

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!

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       r

Clear as mud? ;)

James

Clear as mud, for then if the red is irrelevant, then there cannot be

hand   bag
r       w
r       w
w       r

there can only be

hand   bag
r       w
w       r

for if we remove either red ball from the bag, that very same red ball in
this specific instance cannot be in the person's hand.  We cannot take a
ball out of the bag and in the same example say it may be one of the options
in the person's hand.

If the red *is* relevant, then we're back to my hypothesis, as posted above.

Dave K



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
 
(...) Why not? There are two different red balls, so each of those red balls is equally likely as the white ball to be in my hand. (...) No, because you only tried to remove r2. We are only removing *a* red ball from the bag; because there are 2 red (...) (22 years ago, 4-Mar-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

Message is in Reply To:
  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)

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