Shopping surprise

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.

HI David While living in Wiltshire, in 1993, my wife & I went to Hong Kong & China to celebrate our 30th anniversary. On a 3 day trip to Canton (as it was then) we met with a number of British people in our party of about eight. Among these were a newly wed couple from Sussex. Having moved to Cheshire, in 20ii we made a shopping trip to the Cheshire Oaks Outlet Village at Ellesmere Port and while in Marks a lady came up to us with a pushchair and said, 'Hong Kong 1993'. The same half of the newly weds from 1993 and they had moved to the Wirral. Quite a surprise and what luck to have coincided. In 11 years in Cheshire we might have visited Cheshire Oaks 3 times. Hope this illustrates the randomness (sometimes) of coincidence. My wife was a statistician but what were the odds? Mike Downing
Total votes: 260
Date submitted:Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:16:58 +0000Coincidence ID:4519