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The Tuesday Birthday Problem

Posted by kdawson on from the if-it's-tuesday-it-must-be-a-girl dept.

An anonymous reader sends in a mathematical puzzle introduced at the recent Gathering 4 Gardner, a convention of mathematicians, magicians, and puzzle enthusiasts held biannually in Atlanta. The Tuesday Birthday Problem is simply stated, but tends to mislead both intuitive and mathematically informed guesses. "I have two children, one of whom is a boy born on a Tuesday. What's the probability that my other child is a boy?" The submitter adds, "Believe it or not, the Tuesday thing is relevant. Well, sort of. It's ambiguous."

2 of 981 comments (clear)

  1. The real problem by Meneth · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    The real problem is that so many people are be fooled by these logical hoops to think that the answer is anything than 50% (or 49%, if you take worldwide statistics into account). I had higher hopes for humanity.

  2. Re:What's counterintuitive about it? by naplam33 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    well thanks for repeating the same bs again. now, care to explain why?