Pen Pal
As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.
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.
Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.
When I was about 10 I desperately wanted a pen pal in another country. My friends seemed to have one and I didn't want to be left out. So when one of them asked me whether I had one I lied that I had, but I also had to give him a name. The name of Douglas Paterson popped into my head, although I can't think why and so my imaginary Douglas satisfied my friends. About a year later my aunt in Canada said she had found me a pen pal in Vancouver. I was worred because I would have to tell my friends that he had a different name. I needn't have worred because it turned out to be Douglas Paterson.
Date submitted:Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:22:57 +0000Coincidence ID:6467
