Old joke. Mathematician was getting ready to attend a conference in another city, and needed to get tickets for the flight. But, he was afraid of a hijacking. He told his friend, who was also going to the conference, and they couldn’t find an answer for him. The next day, the friend was in the other city at the conference, and the first mathematician showed up at the bar. The friend was amazed and asked what had changed. The first guy answered that the night before, he had calculated the odds of there being a hijacker with a knife, and he didn’t like the numbers. Then, he tried the odds for a hijacker with a gun. And, a hijacker with a bomb. Finally, he tried two hijackers each with their own bombs. He liked those odds, so here he is now. His friend asked how he could be so certain given a situation that specific, and the first guy said, “I brought my own bomb.”
Randy B Premium Member almost 7 years ago
No scrupulously honest one, anyway.
Ida No almost 7 years ago
Old joke. Mathematician was getting ready to attend a conference in another city, and needed to get tickets for the flight. But, he was afraid of a hijacking. He told his friend, who was also going to the conference, and they couldn’t find an answer for him. The next day, the friend was in the other city at the conference, and the first mathematician showed up at the bar. The friend was amazed and asked what had changed. The first guy answered that the night before, he had calculated the odds of there being a hijacker with a knife, and he didn’t like the numbers. Then, he tried the odds for a hijacker with a gun. And, a hijacker with a bomb. Finally, he tried two hijackers each with their own bombs. He liked those odds, so here he is now. His friend asked how he could be so certain given a situation that specific, and the first guy said, “I brought my own bomb.”
Safety tip: Do not tell this story in an airport.