The Appalachian Trail

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.

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As Ralph was leaving for some researches in the Harvard Library, his psychic girlfriend Betty told him that something important would happen at 2:00PM. Indeed he stumbled walking down a stairway at that time, and Susan, who was walking up, came over to help him pick up his papers and books. Grateful for this help from a stranger, Ralph suggested they go for coffee. In the middle of their conversation Ralph reached over, took Susan's hand, and said "Will you marry me?" One day after several months of happy marriage they exchanged tales of memorable events from the years before they met. Ralph told of his months walking the Appalachian trail southward, and recalled a girl walking northward carrying a large bedpost on her back. Susan had also walked the trail, northward, and recalled seeing a strange young fellow dancing naked along the trail and singing native incantations. Yes, the "bedpost" was a Japanese musical instrument: Ralph and Susan had met so very briefly five years before on the Appalachian Trail.
Total votes: 351
Date submitted:Sun, 27 Jan 2019 03:18:39 +0000Coincidence ID:10191