Stranger with an old connection

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.

I was sitting on the train on my commute home one afternoon and noticed a man sitting opposite me on the train. Later that afternoon I was listening to the radio - national broadcaster - on my drive from the train station to my house where a person was being interviewed on a certain matter. At the end of the interview, the radio announcer said that was Soandso from Organisation name. ‘Hmm’ I though, ‘I used to go to school with a person with that name (25 years ago), I wonder if it’s the same person?’ When I got home I googled the organisation and clicked on the ‘About us’ link to discover that the person being interviewed was the same person I went to school with. On the webpage was a group staff photo. Looking at the staff photo I noticed that it included the very same man sitting across from me on the train ride home.
Total votes: 234
Date submitted:Thu, 19 Aug 2021 02:29:36 +0000Coincidence ID:11616