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To: WildTurkey
I understand your point. Here's the thing -- go back to the coin tosser tossing fifty coins on the table. They all come up heads. What's on the other side of the coins?

Understand that I said all heads and not any combination of heads and tails. How many outcomes are there when we allow at least 30 heads? At least 40, etc. Well you can figure those out. Combinatorics 201. The answer for fifty heads out of fifty coins is easy and you've already given it. One chance in 2**50. That is, impossible. Impossible unless the toss is rigged or the coins are rigged. Assuming we saw the toss and the coins and by that would make a assumption of rigging the toss very very unlikely -- we ain't talking magical space aliens coin tossing here, just a man out of the crowd.

What's on the other side of the coins?

1,715 posted on 02/04/2005 7:23:55 AM PST by bvw
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To: bvw
The answer for fifty heads out of fifty coins is easy and you've already given it. One chance in 2**50. That is, impossible.

Hmm. You agreed that MY coin toss sequence had the same odds. Therefore it was "IMPOSSIBLE" for me to toss it but I did. I did the impossible, according to you.

1,718 posted on 02/04/2005 7:28:49 AM PST by WildTurkey (When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)
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To: bvw
The answer for fifty heads out of fifty coins is easy and you've already given it. One chance in 2**50. That is, impossible. Impossible unless the toss is rigged or the coins are rigged.

Not impossible, just improbable (i.e., the odds of it occurring are non-zero, so it is not impossible.) There is a small chance of any set pattern occurring.

1,720 posted on 02/04/2005 7:48:56 AM PST by WildHorseCrash
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