SorrybutAVG

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Stupid probability question

Posted on 2:15 PM by Unknown
I got conned into doing this Eat Well, Live Well Challenge where I work, and one of the things you do is try to walk 10,000 steps a day. So I've been walking to a place around the corner for lunch, which is about 5,000 steps round trip.

On my walk today, I was thinking about probabilities. Although it blew my mind at the time, I've come to accept that a probability of zero only means "almost impossible", not actually "impossible". The classic example is that if you pick a random point inside a unit square (0<=x<=1, 0<=y<=1), the probability of any given point being chosen is, necessarily, zero -- but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

Okay, that's great. Of course, you can take any continuous segment of the unit square and give the probability of that, e.g. the odds of landing in (0<=x<=0.5, 0<=y<=0.5) would be 1/4... right? Interestingly, the odds of landing in (0<=x<0.5, 0<=y<0.5) are also 1/4, I think, but that's okay, because the odds of landing exactly on the lines x=0.5 or y=0.5 are that whole "almost impossible" zero again.

So now let's extend it to, pick any random point on an infinite 2-dimensional grid. Again, the probability of choosing any given point is zero. No problem. But now, the odds of choosing any finite continuous segment are also zero... which I guess I can handle.

Okay, but now what are the odds that the point chosen will be in the infinite continuous segment x>0? I don't know how to show the math (I know it involves integration, but I can't seem to quite figure it out), but it's got to be 50%, right?

Okay... so what are the odds that the point chosen will be in the infinite continuous segment x>1? It's also gotta be 50%, right? I think? Which I guess is okay, because the interval 0<=x<=1 has our good old friend "almost impossible" probability of zero.

Can anybody who knows probability theory tell me if that's correct? And if so, how do you sleep at night? This will piss me off almost as much as the Banach-Tarski Paradox...

Edit: I'm guessing this is how I do the math, but I have to get off the computer now so many I can figure this one out tomorrow...
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook
Posted in math | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • I win an argument with Dan Cooper!
    I won't bore anyone with the details, but I just totally whupped Dan Cooper (yes, that Dan Cooper) in an argument on Google+ . After I...
  • God takes sides in Survivor: Samoa
    My wife and I were watching Survivor: Samoa last night (yes, I kind of like that show) and a reward challenge involved a hilarious scene wh...
  • Ten New Ways to Piss Off God
    Found a new one today. Leviticus 21:18-20, while not explicitly condemning anyone, bars the following individuals from "approaching th...
  • I feel bad for George Zimmerman, I really do
    The latest news has George Zimmerman completely flipping out and ditching his lawyers, putting together a poorly-designed website 1 , and t...
  • About that Time cover...
    So yeah, everybody's seen it , right? A lot of my Facebook friends are nursing moms, a lot of them are AP moms, a few of them are even ...
  • The disastrous ethical consequences of the Atonement meme
    It has been pointed out by Hitchens and others that the idea of Jesus suffering and dying for our sins is not just repulsive because it...
  • Before, During, and After
    I don't usually blog much about home improvement , but I figured I ought to do a follow-up post to the one about venturing into the craw...
  • The Archdiocese of Washington and Pat Condell
    Earlier today I watched the newest Pat Condell rant by following the link at richarddawkins.net . Then later, I happened to stumble on thi...
  • I guess the Birthers were right all along
    Ah hah, here is the proof that Obama is not an American citizen after all! On a side note, take a gander at the ad for Carnation infant for...
  • Faith is Nihilism
    Bryan Fischer says that not exploiting fossil fuels to the absolute maximum is like rejecting a birthday present from Jesus, and that if we...

Categories

  • abortion
  • accomodationism
  • alternative medicine
  • apatheism
  • atheism
  • birther hilarity
  • bus ads
  • censorship
  • christian apologetics
  • christianity
  • civility
  • colbert
  • cooking
  • creationism
  • death
  • drinking
  • dualism
  • environment
  • evolution
  • facial hair
  • faith
  • feminism
  • file sharing
  • health care
  • hinduism
  • history
  • home improvement
  • intelligent design
  • islam
  • judaism
  • lgbt
  • local farming
  • lolcatz
  • math
  • misogyny
  • morality
  • mormonism
  • music
  • occupy
  • parenthood
  • peer review
  • philosophy
  • physics
  • politics
  • programming
  • racism
  • sikhism
  • skepticism
  • sustainable farming
  • trolls
  • vaccines
  • vegetarianism
  • video games
  • war on christmas

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (2)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  February (1)
  • ►  2012 (55)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (3)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (8)
    • ►  May (9)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ►  2011 (72)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (7)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (4)
    • ►  July (4)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (6)
    • ►  March (17)
    • ►  February (10)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ▼  2010 (106)
    • ►  December (7)
    • ►  November (4)
    • ►  October (10)
    • ►  September (11)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (7)
    • ►  June (10)
    • ►  May (5)
    • ▼  April (14)
      • Colombia Cardinal is not just despicable, he's als...
      • Comments are off for today
      • If you are over 50 and/or don't play video games, ...
      • Physics/religion joke
      • Stupid probability question
      • Why they'll get away with it
      • On the "Arrest the Pope!" thing...
      • Even the Associated Press can't be neutral about t...
      • Is Deepak Choprah a harbinger of things to come?
      • Obama tells the future in 2008
      • Still the most hated group in America
      • The PZ Talk
      • At the PZ talk
      • Secular grace?
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (8)
  • ►  2009 (171)
    • ►  December (10)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  October (19)
    • ►  September (26)
    • ►  August (38)
    • ►  July (52)
    • ►  June (21)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile