The letter
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understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.
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Several years ago my parents decided to visit Portugal. Just before they left for the airport the postman delivered several letters. My father glanced at them. The usual junk mail and bills plus one letter with the wrong address on it. He noticed that the letter was addressed to a Mr Ashley , my fathers surname. The address however was a street about 500 metres away. He decided to deliver the letter his self on the way to the airport. After all it might be important and he was going away for two weeks.
My parents arrived in Portugal. They checked into a hotel. The following morning my father decided to take a bus to the next village. He was waiting at the bus stop and got into a conversation with an English couple. The usual conversation took place about where each other lived in the UK. After a few seconds it was discovered that they lived in the same town. They had the same surname, and that my father had delivered a letter to their house the day before.
Date submitted:Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:53:55 +0000Coincidence ID:6082
