Comments on: A Riddle of Sorts: Dr. John or Fat Tony

By: Pem Hawkins

Pem Hawkins — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:42:20 +0000

It is the same coin tossed at the beginning of most college football games and the home team wins almost everytime. This coin has been what has caused many collegfe football teams to play defense first.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:16:22 +0000

Paco, Nancy,

I meant a two-sided coin. One head, one tail.

Sorry.

By: nancy

nancy — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:07:34 +0000

So I guess your response to my first comment was meant to read “but it is NOT a two-headed coin”.

By: nancy

nancy — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:38:10 +0000

Dag, Paco!

By: Paco

Paco — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:27:43 +0000

Dan, I assume you meant two sided, not two headed.

Here are my thoughts. The statistician in me says the odds of heads on the 41st toss is 50%. However, if you examine the odds of hitting 41 heads in a row with a truly random throw and fair coin, the probability is 9×10^-13, or infinitesimal. Therefore, it could be said that the odds of hitting heads are 100%, because either the coin is unfair or the toss is not truly random (i.e. the outcome is somehow controlled by the tosser). However, this thought process may be flawed because if the throw is being controlled, the probability of calling the throw is 0% because the thrower predetermines the outcome.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:27:17 +0000

Dave and Rick are Dr. John-like. Nancy is starting to think like Fat Tony, but it is a two-headed coin.

By: RickMonday

RickMonday — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:00:20 +0000

50-50

By: nancy

nancy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:23:37 +0000

Is it a two-headed coin?

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:39:36 +0000

50-50