serious toast
HUFFMANS@MSUVX1.MEMPHIS.EDU
Sat, 04 Nov 1995 12:26:28 -0600 (CST)
Robert Markley has brought up an interesting point, and the Weinberg book does
sound like it's worth checking out. However, I wonder if there's something
else going on when those of us who certainly understand a very basic
probability problem (unless, of course, one uses a _lot_ of butter) still have
some faith in the folk axiom of Murphy's Law. Could it be that this has
smething to do with the Golden Section? As I understand it, the only people
who truly view life as a crap shoot are those the medical model folks call
clinically depressed. While not claiming to fully understand the Golden
Section and all its ramifications, I did wonder about applying it to the
buttered toast problem. If indeed we are "hardwired" or whatever, to expect
positive outcomes or confirmations more like 2/3 of the time, could it be that
when faced with phenomema which conform to simple probabilty, we magnify he
negative instances? Jack, if you're reading this, would you care to comment or
set me straight if I'm off base here? Anyone else? Suzanne Huffman
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