a) You know Mr. Smith's oldest child, Joan, from school. One day, while shopping in the mall, you hear Mr. Smith saying, "That stupid daughter of mine! I'm going to kill her!" Worried, you ask him, "You're not talking about Joan, are you?" Mr. Smith says, "No, not her, it's a different one. I should never have had five children." What's the chance that all five of Mr. Smith's children are girls?
a') The next day Mr. Smith's neighbor, Mr. Jones, comes up to you and says, "I hate to bother you out of the blue, but I just wanted you let you know that I've met all of Mr. Smith's daughters, and I have at least as many daughters as he does. And I, too, have five children. Isn't that fascinating?" What's the chance that all five of Mr. Smith's children are girls?
a'') Inexplicably, the day after that, Mr. Paritincalnedabbilly, who knows both Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, comes up to you and says, "I hear that you have a special interest in the number of daughters sired by men in this town with five children. I have at least two daughters. I do not know why you are so curious about this information. It seems a bit perverse if you ask me, but whatever." What's the chance that all five of Mr. Paritincalnedabbilly's children are girls?
b) Why am I making you read this Sports Illustratedarticle?
A pretty unhelpful clue, as you've likely already guessed it: The answers to a, a' and a'' are all different.
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
