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Subject: 
Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.geek
Date: 
Tue, 4 Mar 2003 22:08:08 GMT
Viewed: 
460 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, David Koudys writes:
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.

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.

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

No, because you only tried to remove r2.  We are only removing *a* red ball
from the bag; because there are 2 red balls, and only 1 is ever in our hand,
there is always a red ball in the bag to remove.   It is irrelevant whether
that ball is r1 or r2.

Redoing it with numbers:

hand   bag
r1     r2 w
r2     r1 w
w      r1 r2

Now removing a red ball from the bag we get:

hand   bag
r1      w  (r2 is the only red ball, it is removed)
r2      w  (r2 is the only red ball, it is removed)
w      r1 OR r2 (either may be removed, as both are in the bag)

James



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
 
(...) Bleargh! typo. r2 w (r1 is the only red ball, it is removed) (...) (22 years ago, 4-Mar-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
  Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
 
(...) This analysis assumes there is a percievable difference between the red balls, which as originally stated, there isn't. It's similar to the difference between combinations and permutations. The two permutations you've listed with a red ball in (...) (22 years ago, 4-Mar-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: math question (or pattern... whatever...)
 
(...) Clear as mud, for then if the red is irrelevant, then there cannot be (...) there can only be (...) 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 (...) (22 years ago, 4-Mar-03, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

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