Strangers on a plane
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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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1980's. I'm on a plane to The Gambia for a holiday. The guy beside me is going to the Ivory Coast where he lives and works. We chat and he talks about his business and his charity work. He gives me his business card as I depart the plane. About ten years later I am on a mentoring residential course with a diverse group of senior people from both public and private sectors. One of the attendees happened to be the top man of the organisation in which my (late) partner was a small cog and I amuse him with my insider knowledge. We chat more widely. He says he comes from the Ivory Coast. The only other person I had knowingly met from there was the guy on the plane. Yep, the guy on the plane had been this man's mentor when he was a youngster. He does not believe the coincidence until I show him the business card - which by chance was still in my wallet.
Date submitted:Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:37:08 +0000Coincidence ID:6615
