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To: VadeRetro
Retrospective Astonishment.

The best example of this is to shuffle a deck of cards, and then deal them out in their shuffled sequence. The odds against that particular sequence is 57! which is 4.05269195 × 1076. That number is several orders of magnitude greater than the number of stars in the sky. In other words, the odds against that particular shuffle are truly astronomical. Yet there it is, lying on the table before you. A miracle? No. Impossible? No. It's "astonishing" only in retrospect.

What would be impossible, however, is to predict that sequence ahead of time. Virtually impossible.

The life on earth today can be regarded as one shuffle of the deck. Highly improbable. But here we are. If the universe were to go into rapid rewind and then go forward again, we'd probably end up with a different bunch of species on earth, just as a new shuffle of the deck would result in a different sequence of cards. The odds against any one sequence are immense. But you would end up with a sequence. Guaranteed.

1,030 posted on 05/26/2005 6:09:51 PM PDT by PatrickHenry (Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. The List-O-Links is at my homepage.)
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To: PatrickHenry
The best example of this is to shuffle a deck of cards, and then deal them out in their shuffled sequence. The odds against that particular sequence is 57!

When someone notices the five extra cards you've snuck into the deck, you're going to be in a heap of trouble.

1,047 posted on 05/26/2005 6:26:46 PM PDT by Ichneumon
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To: PatrickHenry

What are the odds of walking away from the table with 57 cards in the deck?


1,051 posted on 05/26/2005 6:28:49 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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