this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023
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For me it is the fact that our blood contains iron. I earlier used to believe the word stood for some 'organic element' since I couldn't accept we had metal flowing through our supposed carbon-based bodies, till I realized that is where the taste and smell of blood comes from.

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[–] Iraglassceiling@hexbear.net 53 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (23 children)

The birthday paradox

If you get 23 people in a room the odds of two of them sharing a birthday are 50%

The birthday paradox is a veridical paradox: it seems wrong at first glance but is, in fact, true. While it may seem surprising that only 23 individuals are required to reach a 50% probability of a shared birthday, this result is made more intuitive by considering that the birthday comparisons will be made between every possible pair of individuals. With 23 individuals, there are (23 Γ— 22)/2 = 253 pairs to consider, far more than half the number of days in a year.

[–] TheActualDevil@sffa.community 1 points 1 year ago (6 children)

So not really then. I've always heard this but not seen it explained. But what you're saying is that with every interaction the likely hood of finding a match goes up. But realistically, probabilities like that are just fun quirks of math, not representations of reality. Probabilities are doing the math on events, but these are events discussing concrete and unchanging dates. Every person paired up isn't given a random date in every interaction. They have a set date from the outset, you just don't know it. There's not a random number generator picking a number from a set every time. Unless you're in a simulation and none of this is real and birthdays don't exist and the computer you're plugged into has to make up a random birthday every time you interact.

[–] Iraglassceiling@hexbear.net 16 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Sorry, but I honestly have no idea what you’re trying to say. If you have questions you can click on the Wikipedia link!

[–] TheActualDevil@sffa.community -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah. Sorry, I assumed you knew what you were talking about about and not just copy/pasting a thing you found. My bad.

[–] Iraglassceiling@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It helps if you can compose a coherent sentence! :)

[–] TheActualDevil@sffa.community -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your inability to understand is not my problem. I suggest a reading comprehension class. I understand that some of those big words like "Probabilities" and "math" might be too much for you. It's okay. We all have things we're good at. You'll find yours one day.

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