by J.V. Cunningham (1911 - 1985)
Plato, despair!
We prove by norms
How numbers bear
Empiric forms,
How random wrong
Will average right
If time be long
And errors slight;
But in our hearts
Hyperbole
Curves and departs
To infinity.
Error is boundless.
Nor hope nor doubt,
Though both be groundless,
Will average out.
Students estimate the probability that a Hershey's KissTM will land on its flat base when spilled from a cup. Almond and plain Kisses are compared.
by Lawrence Mark Lesser
At our next infant wellness visit,
the pediatrician plots
our only child’s weight on
paper ruled
by increasing bands
with concavity ill-suited
for extrapolation.
Kilograms or pounds,
it’s 40th percentile, down
from the 60th percentile.
Having delivered well
into “advanced maternal age,” my wife
frowns (“we aren’t feeding him enough!”).
I say it just fell
half a sigma and
we’re still well
within the fat
part of the bell curve –
it’s normal –
this won’t be one
of our worries.
by Lawrence Mark Lesser
Some maintain hate
Speech doesn’t cause
Violence, that
Casualties aren’t
Causal-ties
‘Cause we can’t
Predict the
People:
Yet another othering
When words trigger
Someone past the post hoc
Point of madness.
This “random” violence isn’t:
Did the shooter flick
A spinner to choose
His aim?
Q: What does a father teach his kids to understand the world of uncertainty?
A: ProbabiliDAD!
Larry Lesser