Just so we're clear, you no longer consider this to be a fallacy if by 'high' we use the median as a reference point? "I am more likely to have been born in a high population country than a low population country" And…
Ah I see, apologies, I understand your concern. If we define 'big' and 'small' as being above or below the average (mean) value, then you're quite right that it breaks down for many cases, like the one you gave. But if…
Precisely. I'm glad you took the time to understand. :)
Not so - the result holds for all feasible distributions.
Ah, but take a look at this chart: https://xkcd.com/1633/ For anything more than 10^6 km away and less than 10 metres in size, we just wouldn't see it. We have only just noticed some enormous lumps on Ceres, and it…
Many results in science don't have practical applications. But the calculation relating to planet size can help us decide where to look for life.
Hmm that's unfortunate. How do I become un-dead?!
That's exactly how statistics works. You make a statement with some degree of confidence (often 95%) and fully expect to be wrong 5% the time.
If we are talking about alien life in general, I completely agree. But this calculation relates specifically to intelligent life. And from that collection we can deduce something, as explained in the website. The…
Indeed, in fact in most situations it's impossible to be both an ordinary individual and be in an ordinary group. Hypothetically, let's imagine there were 10 normal-sized planets with 10 people each, and 1 big planet…
Thanks, I've fixed it now!
Just so we're clear, you no longer consider this to be a fallacy if by 'high' we use the median as a reference point? "I am more likely to have been born in a high population country than a low population country" And…
Ah I see, apologies, I understand your concern. If we define 'big' and 'small' as being above or below the average (mean) value, then you're quite right that it breaks down for many cases, like the one you gave. But if…
Precisely. I'm glad you took the time to understand. :)
Not so - the result holds for all feasible distributions.
Ah, but take a look at this chart: https://xkcd.com/1633/ For anything more than 10^6 km away and less than 10 metres in size, we just wouldn't see it. We have only just noticed some enormous lumps on Ceres, and it…
Many results in science don't have practical applications. But the calculation relating to planet size can help us decide where to look for life.
Hmm that's unfortunate. How do I become un-dead?!
That's exactly how statistics works. You make a statement with some degree of confidence (often 95%) and fully expect to be wrong 5% the time.
If we are talking about alien life in general, I completely agree. But this calculation relates specifically to intelligent life. And from that collection we can deduce something, as explained in the website. The…
Indeed, in fact in most situations it's impossible to be both an ordinary individual and be in an ordinary group. Hypothetically, let's imagine there were 10 normal-sized planets with 10 people each, and 1 big planet…
Thanks, I've fixed it now!