Same town, same road, same house
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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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In 1950, I moved with my parents from 5 Lena Avenue, Monkseaton, Northumberland, to live in Southern England. At a conference in Oxford in 2014 for those affected by obstructive sleep apnœa syndrome (OSAS), I recognised another attendee's Geordie accent. The number of attendees was about 300, with a fair number of partners and friends as well as those diagnosed with OSAS. An investigatory conversation revealed that we had both lived in Monkseaton, and in Lena Avenue. My further questioning revealed my collocutor had also lived at number 5.
Both of us had moved from Monkseaton in childhood and now lived some 280 miles apart.
The selective elements (Sharing an interest on OSAS, being interested enough to attend a conference, our meeting and striking up that conversation) seem to reduce the likelihood of our discovering this common feature of our lives, but I am unable to estimate just how unlikely such an event might be.
Date submitted:Thu, 27 Jul 2017 00:47:03 +0000Coincidence ID:9333
