HSP 135-01
Albion College
Fall 02025

Discussion questions for TUG Ch. 8-10
DLs Vanessa & Diego:

1. Why was Bayes formula so important, and why does it continue to be important today?

2. Why is the probability of a single event different from probability of a repeatable event? How are they similar?

3. Why is the law of large numbers so fundamental to statistics and probability theory?

4. Why was the bell curve such an important discovery?

 

5. Why do you think insurance companies, businesses, etc. are willing to pay out life annuity, do you think they will always make a profit on you? (pg.131).

 

6. What are your thoughts on the idea of prosecutor�s fallacy, do you think it is ok for lawyers to twist the evidence to benefit their client, can you think of any famous cases in history when this has occurred? (pg.143)

 

7. Do you believe it was foolish of the U.S. Department of Defense to not take the risk of terrorism presented by their software seriously, or do you believe they did not know any better because a terror attack of that magnitude had never occurred before? (pg.150)

 

8. After reading the various modern examples of probability mentioned in chapter 10, which do you believe to be the most interesting or surprising to you?