Untertitel (19)
0:00Math helped me win a gameshow!
At a comiccon, I joined a pop culture
0:03gameshow with trivia questions, a bit of public
humiliation and - ultimately - a math problem.
0:10The final game in this show was a game of
chance. I had to choose 1 out of 3 boxes,
0:14and only one of those boxes had a prize.
THEN the host opened an unchosen box and
0:20showed that it was empty. He then asked
me whether I wanted to switch boxes.
0:24At this moment, I realised that I was part
of a famous Math problem -the Monty Hall
0:29Problem - in real life, which was super
exciting. And before you say “Lizah you
0:33are a NERD!” - I was at a comic con, playing
a pop-culture quiz dressed in a Warhammer
0:38costume. Being excited about math isn’t even the
nerdiest thing that’s going on in this scenario.
0:43Anyway, about the game. I knew I had
to switch boxes. And this is why.
0:47When I made my original choice, there was
a 1/3 chance that I would choose a box with
0:51a prize in it. But a 2/3 change that this
prize would be in one of the OTHER boxes.
0:56When the host took the empty box out of the
equation, there were two boxes left. This
1:00makes us feel like the odds are now 50/50.
But it is not, it’s still about the original
1:05three options. The odds remain the same:
1/3 for your box and 2/3 for the other
1:10two. What did change is that the 2/3 are now
concentrated into one box instead of two. It's
1:16like that box is now "heavier" with chance.
So the moment the host showed me that one box
1:20was empty and allowed me to switch boxes, he gave
me a chance to switch bets and increase my odds.
