The Lawyer and His Client

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.

The Facts 1. Many years ago (maybe 13-15 years) I worked at a call center for a phone company. I have not lived in that city for almost 8 years. I am now hundreds of miles away. 2. Three years ago I was falsely accused of a crime. The accusations were about the level of vision I have. I hired an attorney, and we had several in person discussions regarding my case. This happened for a full year. 3. After more than a decade I finally found an eye doctor who was able to get me the correction I needed. A few weeks after I got my glasses and corrective equipment, I was out to dinner with a friend. I had a panic attack and headed to the bathroom to hide, but the stalls were full. I waited and this guy walks in front of me. I know him. We didn't really talk much, but we had been on the same team at the customer service call center all those years ago. I have not recognized a face in over a decade, and what are the odds that I would recognize a person from all those years ago, all those miles away? He also happened to be my attorney. Of all the people in the world for me to recognize, it was the person charged with defending me. I knew him from a years before, in a different city, in a different profession. He remains the first, and only face I recognized from before my vision loss. I could not have seen him for the entire year I sat across from him. This in turn convinced him I was not guilty.
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Date submitted:Sat, 27 Jun 2020 07:21:52 +0000Coincidence ID:10478