Comments on: The Donkey Behind Door Number Three

By: Sine Botchen

Sine Botchen — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:54:13 +0000

re: buick electra.. my grandmother had one of those! when she finally had a stroke and had to be hospitalized my mom & me went to her house in Jackson Mississippi to clear out her stuff.. I was 15 at the time and got to drive that big old car all over Jackson (somehow being from Texas seemed to excuse me -at least in our minds- from any perceived traffic laws of the great state of Mississippi). We were there all summer and while I had been to Jackson at least once, if not twice, a year to visit my grandparents as a kid (along with my brother/sister/mom/dad) it was the first time I got to hang out with my uncle, aunt & cousins as a (nearly) full fledged adult. It was totally liberating to have my mom toss me the keys to that big old buick and be told to go grocery shopping (and to not actually get lost!). I only have to think back to those days to know how my friends who come to Austin feel when they actually start learning their way around town the first couple of times.
Sine Botchen´s last blog ..Riding in the rain

By: Sine Botchen

Sine Botchen — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:39:49 +0000

Regarding the car issue.. yes! they actually did give away cars to real people.. our neighbors were from California and they had a green chevy nova (or maybe it was a green ford pinto??) they won on Let’s Make a Deal.. the paint was really faded, which lended to the credibility that they could have possibly won it on a TV show. anyway, didn’t have any reason not to believe them.
Sine Botchen´s last blog ..Riding in the rain

By: Lisa Creech Bledsoe

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:09:35 +0000

Don’t know about the Maserati, but he did give away a car called a Bricklin, whatever that is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcYf64aKDJo

And a fugly Mazda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vpXKNoNXjQ&feature=related

But here’s the one I want: an early 70′s Buick Electra. I’m totally diggin that one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vpXKNoNXjQ&feature=related

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:27:36 +0000

My brain hurts already, and I’ve only just begun to dig into this problem. I know what I’ll be spending the entire weekend doing: Trying to get that damn Maserati.
Question: Did Monte Hall ever actually give away a Maserati on Let’s Make a Deal?
Dave´s last blog ..Airwaves Yamaha looks forward to Croft

By: Sine Botchen

Sine Botchen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:26:15 +0000

I dunno.. I’ve often found myself disagreeing with Ms. Vos Savant (is that really her last name??) but I suck at math so who am I to say…

Are you better off playing the same slot machine all night or randomly going from machine to machine hoping to hit a lucky one? My strategy was to listen to the sound the coins made when they dropped into the box, a fuller box meant the machine hadn’t “payed out” in a while. It didn’t work. In all fairness I’ve only been in a casino maybe ten times at the most (including cruise ships, etc.) Now I just look for a machine that has the highest rate of return (in case I do win something, anything) and plan on spending $20-$40 as “entertainment” (especially if they are bring complementary drinks to me – they don’t do that on carinval cruises, btw.)
Sine Botchen´s last blog ..My Handwriting Sucks

By: Lisa Creech Bledsoe

Lisa Creech Bledsoe — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:16:23 +0000

Gosh, I didn’t really think of it this way.

Ok, your situation is this: There are two donkeys and one car, so your odds of winning (a donkey) are 2 in 3. Good odds, those. So let’s say you pick door number one. Monte then opens door number three to reveal… A lovely sweetly-singing donkey — uh, oh! What if a car is behind your door?? That would be awful! So he asks you if you want to switch.

Do you switch or stay?

By: Mary Jo

Mary Jo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:42:08 +0000

But what if I’d rather have the donkey? Certainly that changes the odds. And is it better if I don’t mention I prefer the donkey or broadcast that news? And why doesn’t everybody want the donkey? We boarded two one winter when I was growing up, and the donkey sings sweetly at the break of day, which I think would add great joy to many people’s lives. I’m just sayin’.

By: Lance Bledsoe

Lance Bledsoe — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:39:34 +0000

Yeah, my wife’s pretty smart for a jock.

I find it especially fascinating that among the many thousands of irate letters Marilyn received about her answer to this problem were several hundred from math PhDs, who were especially angry. One of these was the well-known mathematician Paul Erdos, who apparently got even angrier when he was shown a formal mathematical proof of the solution. The problem really is a fascinating one, and highlights something Mlodinow points out in his book (The Drunkard’s Walk), which is that “our brains are just not wired to do probability problems very well.” (Even if we do have a PhD in math.)