Psychic arithmetic?
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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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Last year, one Saturday afternoon, my wife asked me how old someone was if they were born in 1995. I subtracted 1995 from 2013. '28' years old I said. 'No, hang on, 18 years'. Her cousin's 18th birthday was approaching and she just wanted to make sure so she could buy a card. Later that day we were out shopping and I suggested going the opposite direction we were walking to go to another shop. It was then that I saw a banner outside a garden centre type shop, celebrating 18 years of being in business. '1995 - 2013. 18 year anniversary'. This was the simple sum I had thought about earlier in the day (and had got wrong at first). Very strange. What had made me change direction so that I would spot the banner? Pure chance. At the time though, I was convinced it was something more than that. That it was a psychic message of some sort.
Date submitted:Fri, 23 May 2014 13:48:07 +0000Coincidence ID:7585
