Probability

  • This is an oddly funny story about a man who becomes the "focus point of all miracles in the world", a "gigantic fluctuation". He somehow appears to attract extremely improbable, but possible, statistical events (like generating a magnetic field out of the blue, having a woman close to him fly away due to a freak atmospheric phenomenon, etc) and thence considers himself to be a phenomenon of extreme fluctuation in Nature. The story is set as a late evening conversation on a beach between a boy and "The Fluctuation". There is some discussion about probability and coin-tossing along the way. He finally walks away to ensure the boy does not get hurt because of his own improbabilities. The Fluctuation describes the rules of probability that he seems to be violating and, when asked if he is a methematician, replies:  "How can I be a mathematician? I'm a fluctuation."'

  • by Lawrence Mark Lesser

    In ev'ry line,
    the rhyme design
    would sure confine
    the flow so fine,
    a twisted vine.

    As odds decline,
    I do opine:
    "Things may untwine
    here after nine,
    ending differently."

  • by Lawrence Mark Lesser

    "Hey! You!
    I demand
    you stop
    and give
    me right
    now right
    here a
    permutation!"

    "Importunate!"
    he replied.

  • The Probability Models Game at Distributome.org asks students to choose the correct probability model to match applied scenarios.  Each row of a table corresponds to a different problem description while each column corresponds to a different probability distribution.  The challenge is to find the matching rows and columns in the minimal time.

  • The world is noisy and messy. You need to deal with the noise and uncertainty

    Daphne Koller (1968 - )

  • I figure you have the same chance of winning the lottery whether you play or not.

    Fran Lebowitz, (1950 - )

  • … how can you say luck and chance are the same thing? Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterwards.

    Amy Tan (1952 - )

  • Life is a gamble, a chance, a mere guess. Cast a line and reel in a splendid rainbow trout or a slippery eel.

    Mourning Dove (1884 – 1936)

  • I love to think about chance — about how one little overheard word, one pebble in a shoe, can change the universe.

    Anne Tyler (1941 - )

  • Time and chance reveal all secrets.

    Delarivier Manley (1663 – 1724)

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