It's a Smaller World Than You Think
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.
In 2013 my daughter befriended a young man who lived in her apartment building near a large public university in California. They were both students. They soon began dating and "friended " each other on Facebook. Her new boyfriend grew up twenty minutes from us and has an older half brother who lives elsewhere in the state. One weekend my daughter came home to visit and told me about her boyfriend's family. His mother and I are both teachers. His father is an engineer who once worked for the same company in the same building as my husband. But the coincidences don't stop there. I asked about the half brother and she showed me his Facebook page. On his home page off to the left some of his "friends" were identified. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Front and center among his friends was my 1st cousin's daughter. The cousin lives 3000 miles away and I had never met the daughter but recognized the name. Turns out my cousin's daughter is best friends with the brother's girlfriend. What are the odds in a state the size of California? Crazy.
Date submitted:Sat, 18 Dec 2021 17:30:56 +0000Coincidence ID:12090
