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Coins tosses - Page 2

Blogs > Sea_Food
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jello_biafra
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
United Kingdom6638 Posts
July 15 2011 18:06 GMT
#21
They're two independent events that don't influence each other, the chances are still 50% either way.

This is just the same as the 'gambler's fallacy' in roulette, even if red comes up a hundred times in a row it's still just as likely to come up red the next time.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions | aka Probert[PaiN] @ iccup / godlikeparagon @ twitch | my BW stream: http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/jello_biafra
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25987 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-15 18:08:44
July 15 2011 18:07 GMT
#22
On July 16 2011 03:00 Sea_Food wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 02:35 Sea_Food wrote:
We all know that if two coins are thrown, there is only 50% chance that both land same side up. But according to this, after he tells you one coin landed X, there is 67% chance that the other coin landed different side.


Can someone try to explain me this?

The entire thread has explained this. The fact that either coin could be H gives you two chances to be right, whereas there is only one chance to be wrong (HH). The other chance of being wrong (TT) was eliminated by the statement "One coin is heads". 2 / 4 now becomes 2 / 3.
Moderator
Sea_Food
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Finland1612 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-15 18:12:56
July 15 2011 18:08 GMT
#23
On July 16 2011 03:07 Chill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 03:00 Sea_Food wrote:
On July 16 2011 02:35 Sea_Food wrote:
We all know that if two coins are thrown, there is only 50% chance that both land same side up. But according to this, after he tells you one coin landed X, there is 67% chance that the other coin landed different side.


Can someone try to explain me this?

Your quoted statement is false.



EDIT:

Explain how it is wrong?
Shifft
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada1085 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-15 18:09:35
July 15 2011 18:08 GMT
#24
Think about it this way maybe:

There are two balls in a bag, one green and one red. You pick one at random. So at the time that you picked there is pretty clearly a 50% chance that you pick the red ball.

Now, without looking at the ball you picked, your friend tells you that the green ball is still in the bag. Due to this additional information you now know that the chances of the ball you picked being red are 100%, even though at the time you picked the chance was only 50%.

The coin examples function basically the same way, but there are more possibilities.
=O
Hesmyrr
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada5776 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-15 18:13:10
July 15 2011 18:09 GMT
#25
Coin 1 \ Coin 2 (Adding the title because it's important, first result refers to what coin 1 flipped as and second result refers to what coin 2 flipped as)

T T 25,0000
T H 25,0000
H T 25,0000
H H 25,0000

Above is the result you get from tossing two coins 1 000 000 times. Now you LITERALLY THROW AWAY THE 25,0000 results you got (TT) since it does not meet the specified parameter (at least one coin has flipped head).

Coin 1 / Coin 2

T H 25,0000
H T 25,0000
H H 25,0000

About 50,000 times one of the coin flipped heads and another flipped tails. And about 25,000 times both of the coins flipped head. Since we are not talking about how coin 1 or coin 2 flipped but how the coin that is not heads (it can be coin 1 OR coin 2) flipped, 500000/750000 = 2/3.

Try it yourself. Flip two coins 100 times, and you will understand what we mean.
"If watching the MSL finals makes you a progamer, then anyone in Korea can do it." - Ha Tae Ki
Blisse
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada3710 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-15 18:15:41
July 15 2011 18:11 GMT
#26
Chill explained it perfectly in the first reply. Actually, everything Chill posted is how you would normally show people why your friend is right.

You should take any intro to probability course at any level high school+. It's actually pretty interesting and should run you through the basics. A lot of people struggle through it since it really isn't intuitive unless you're willing to open your mind a bit to learn and accept this slightly crazier reality.

Your counterexample fictional scenario is wrong, though I'm not sure what you're talking about still.
The possible outcomes are either:
HT
HH
TH
HH
In other words, it doesn't matter which coin you throw first, only the results of the fair coin matter. And the fair coin is 50/50 for H/T. Not 33.
There is no one like you in the universe.
Hesmyrr
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada5776 Posts
July 15 2011 18:12 GMT
#27
On July 16 2011 03:11 Blisse wrote:
Your fictional scenario is wrong, though I'm not sure what you're talking about still.
The possible outcomes are either:
HT
HH
TH
HH

"If watching the MSL finals makes you a progamer, then anyone in Korea can do it." - Ha Tae Ki
Monoxide
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
Canada1190 Posts
July 15 2011 18:12 GMT
#28
On July 16 2011 02:55 Tatum26 wrote:
I think i understand the mixup. if you have TH and HT as two separate options, shouldn't there also be two HH's? as your double-headed coin could land on either head.


Nope. There is only 2 coins. HH means the first coin was a head and second was also a head. There can't be another scenario where there is another HH.
]343[
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States10328 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-15 18:13:21
July 15 2011 18:12 GMT
#29
OP: unfortunately your "counterexample" is different from the original problem. Instead, it would go like this:

You have two fair coins, each with a heads and a tails side. You aren't allowed to flip 2 tails: that is, whenever you flip two tails, flip both again. The probability you will get 2 heads now is indeed 1/3.
Writer
OpticalShot
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Canada6330 Posts
July 15 2011 18:12 GMT
#30
Interesting discussion, but yeah along with most other people, Chill explained it pretty well in his first reply. Maybe I should try this on my younger cousins and see if they get it =P
[TLMS] REBOOT
Hesmyrr
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada5776 Posts
July 15 2011 18:14 GMT
#31
On July 16 2011 03:12 ]343[ wrote:
You have two fair coins, each with a heads and a tails side. You aren't allowed to flip 2 tails: that is, whenever you flip two tails, flip both again. The probability you will get 2 heads now is indeed 1/3.

This is best and simplest way of describing it.

Btw, is there any other famous mathematical mindfucks? I am curious
"If watching the MSL finals makes you a progamer, then anyone in Korea can do it." - Ha Tae Ki
Jumbled
Profile Joined September 2010
1543 Posts
July 15 2011 18:15 GMT
#32
On July 16 2011 02:44 Sea_Food wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 02:43 Jumbled wrote:
In this scenario, the outcomes you listed do not all have equal probability, hence the error in your calculations.


Then why do all the outcomes in the orriginal story have equal probabilities?

Because it's a different problem. In the first example, you have four outcomes with equal probability, one of which is excluded due to extra information you receive. In the second example, there are only three possible outcomes in the first place, and one of those is more likely than the others.
monkxly
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Canada241 Posts
July 15 2011 18:16 GMT
#33
yep, I have one that's probably more famous

You're on a gameshow, and there are three doors

Behind one of the doors there is a prize

You choose a door, and the game show host opens one of the other doors and shows there is nothing on the other side.

You can now switch doors, should you?

It's the same problem as the op in concept
get a spire
Sea_Food
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Finland1612 Posts
July 15 2011 18:16 GMT
#34
On July 16 2011 03:09 Hesmyrr wrote:
Coin 1 \ Coin 2 (Adding the title because it's important, first result refers to what coin 1 flipped as and second result refers to what coin 2 flipped as)

T T 25,0000
T H 25,0000
H T 25,0000
H H 25,0000

Above is the result you get from tossing two coins 1 000 000 times. Now you LITERALLY THROW AWAY THE 25,0000 results you got (TT) since it does not meet the specified parameter (at least one coin has flipped head).


No I dont, because if he tosses coins that many times, he will throw TT some times, in which case he cannot tell me one of the coins landed H.
Impervious
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada4211 Posts
July 15 2011 18:19 GMT
#35
On July 16 2011 03:14 Hesmyrr wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 03:12 ]343[ wrote:
You have two fair coins, each with a heads and a tails side. You aren't allowed to flip 2 tails: that is, whenever you flip two tails, flip both again. The probability you will get 2 heads now is indeed 1/3.

This is best and simplest way of describing it.

Btw, is there any other famous mathematical mindfucks? I am curious

e^(i(pi)) = -1
~ \(ˌ)im-ˈpər-vē-əs\ : not capable of being damaged or harmed.
Vertig0
Profile Joined March 2009
United States196 Posts
July 15 2011 18:19 GMT
#36
It's easy to find out whether it's 50% or 66%: test it a bunch of times. You'll get 66%. Once you agree that that's the right answer, it'll be easier to try to understand why.
#1 Fruitdealer fan!
Hesmyrr
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada5776 Posts
July 15 2011 18:20 GMT
#37
On July 16 2011 03:16 monkxly wrote:
yep, I have one that's probably more famous

You're on a gameshow, and there are three doors

Behind one of the doors there is a prize

You choose a door, and the game show host opens one of the other doors and shows there is nothing on the other side.

You can now switch doors, should you?

It's the same problem as the op in concept

Going straight with my intuition here, I should because now it is 1/2 instead of 1/3. Right? Actually yeah, that seems slightly more flimsy than the OP's example :O (or at least it feels more like it)
"If watching the MSL finals makes you a progamer, then anyone in Korea can do it." - Ha Tae Ki
Essbee
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Canada2371 Posts
July 15 2011 18:21 GMT
#38
On July 16 2011 03:19 Impervious wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 03:14 Hesmyrr wrote:
On July 16 2011 03:12 ]343[ wrote:
You have two fair coins, each with a heads and a tails side. You aren't allowed to flip 2 tails: that is, whenever you flip two tails, flip both again. The probability you will get 2 heads now is indeed 1/3.

This is best and simplest way of describing it.

Btw, is there any other famous mathematical mindfucks? I am curious

e^(i(pi)) = -1


What does "i" stands for?

btw, I understood the OP with what ]343[ wrote, thanks.
Impervious
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada4211 Posts
July 15 2011 18:21 GMT
#39
On July 16 2011 03:20 Hesmyrr wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 03:16 monkxly wrote:
yep, I have one that's probably more famous

You're on a gameshow, and there are three doors

Behind one of the doors there is a prize

You choose a door, and the game show host opens one of the other doors and shows there is nothing on the other side.

You can now switch doors, should you?

It's the same problem as the op in concept

Going straight with my intuition here, I should because now it is 1/2 instead of 1/3. Right? Actually yeah, that seems slightly more flimsy than the OP's example :O (or at least it feels more like it)

2/3 actually.

Why?
~ \(ˌ)im-ˈpər-vē-əs\ : not capable of being damaged or harmed.
Impervious
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada4211 Posts
July 15 2011 18:22 GMT
#40
On July 16 2011 03:21 Essbee wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2011 03:19 Impervious wrote:
On July 16 2011 03:14 Hesmyrr wrote:
On July 16 2011 03:12 ]343[ wrote:
You have two fair coins, each with a heads and a tails side. You aren't allowed to flip 2 tails: that is, whenever you flip two tails, flip both again. The probability you will get 2 heads now is indeed 1/3.

This is best and simplest way of describing it.

Btw, is there any other famous mathematical mindfucks? I am curious

e^(i(pi)) = -1


What does "i" stands for?

btw, I understood the OP with what ]343[ wrote, thanks.

i = sqrt(-1)
~ \(ˌ)im-ˈpər-vē-əs\ : not capable of being damaged or harmed.
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