Euros as bad at math as Americans

[dead0man]

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[GMantis]

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This has nothing to do with maths, it's just luck.
In real maths, the US is quite behind Europe:
http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm

[dead0man]

This has nothing to do with maths, it's just luck.

Thank you for making this three times funnier.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I think here we must remember George Bernard Shaw and quote to ourselves that a lottery is little more than "a tax on foolishness" (never mind, maths).

[Verily]

You don't have to be bad at math to be bad at probability and rational choice. (Plus, rational choice sometimes tells us to do stupid things, as in the St. Petersburg paradox.)

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I only barely survived high schoold because of math. Only because I was good in Polish and History they allowed me to pass.

Math sucks!

[Antonio the Sixth]

Math sucks!

[Gustaf]

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This has nothing to do with maths, it's just luck.
In real maths, the US is quite behind Europe:
http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm

I don't know if that it the way I'd interpret it. Rather, Asia excels at math, Eastern Europe does damn good and Western Europe and the States suck.

[GMantis]

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This has nothing to do with maths, it's just luck.
In real maths, the US is quite behind Europe:
http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm

I don't know if that it the way I'd interpret it. Rather, Asia excels at math, Eastern Europe does damn good and Western Europe and the States suck.

Yes, that confirms my impression of the education systems in Western Europe from when I lived there. It's rather bizarrely that my country is trying to copy the Western European and American systems.

[Psychic Octopus]

It's cause were getting fat, dumb and happy. Were ro used to greatness, While Asia and East Europe are striving for. According to Obama, he'll get us back on top by 2025 and I hope he's correct.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not everyone buying a lottery ticket is "bad at math" expecting to win. I sure as hell don't.

[memphis]

Not everyone buying a lottery ticket is "bad at math" expecting to win. I sure as hell don't.

So they're just voluntarily throwing money away?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

[memphis]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

[dead0man]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

No, they are great.  It's a tax on the stupid.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The best math people in the US are quite good , despite what the pro-H1B lunatics will tell you.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

Well if not spent on the lottery ticket it'd most likely end up in a stripper's G-string. Not sure which you'd consider better.

[memphis]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

Well if not spent on the lottery ticket it'd most likely end up in a stripper's G-string. Not sure which you'd consider better.

Not where I would have spent the dollar, but that's irrealavant. It was your dollar. You got what you wanted from it. With the lottery, you get nothing. In short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5QGkOGZubQ&NR=1

[John Dibble]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

Well if not spent on the lottery ticket it'd most likely end up in a stripper's G-string. Not sure which you'd consider better.

Not where I would have spent the dollar, but that's irrealavant. It was your dollar. You got what you wanted from it. With the lottery, you get nothing. In short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5QGkOGZubQ&NR=1

He didn't get anything tangible, no, but I suppose he got some entertainment value out of it at least - lots of people gamble knowing they are probably going to lose, be it lottery, slots, poker, etc. The odds are against you, but there's an element of thrill to it. Seeing as those other methods tend to be much more expensive, a buck for a lotto ticket is rather cheap.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

Well if not spent on the lottery ticket it'd most likely end up in a stripper's G-string. Not sure which you'd consider better.

Not where I would have spent the dollar, but that's irrealavant. It was your dollar. You got what you wanted from it. With the lottery, you get nothing. In short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5QGkOGZubQ&NR=1

He didn't get anything tangible, no, but I suppose he got some entertainment value out of it at least - lots of people gamble knowing they are probably going to lose, be it lottery, slots, poker, etc. The odds are against you, but there's an element of thrill to it. Seeing as those other methods tend to be much more expensive, a buck for a lotto ticket is rather cheap.

Exactly. I don't get anything tangible from giving it to a stripper either.

[Stranger in a strange land]

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This has nothing to do with maths, it's just luck.
In real maths, the US is quite behind Europe:
http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm

I don't know if that it the way I'd interpret it. Rather, Asia excels at math, Eastern Europe does damn good and Western Europe and the States suck.

Yes, that confirms my impression of the education systems in Western Europe from when I lived there. It's rather bizarrely that my country is trying to copy the Western European and American systems.

What's even more puzzling is rich Asians who spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to send their young children to prep schools in North America. Granted they're sending them to big-name elite prep schools, but still.

[ag]

You don't have to be bad at math to be bad at probability and rational choice. (Plus, rational choice sometimes tells us to do stupid things, as in the St. Petersburg paradox.)

Rational choice emphatically does not imply anything stupid in St. Petersburg paradox. Rational choice has nothing to do w/ evaluating monetary lotteries at their expected monetary value. In fact, as a professor who teaches rational choice I can tell you the following: if you answer like this on an exam you'll fail

[ag]

Not everyone buying a lottery ticket is "bad at math" expecting to win. I sure as hell don't.

So they're just voluntarily throwing money away?

They believe that the small probability of having a humongous payout is worth a buck. Could be absolutely rational.

[ag]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

Somebody gets paid. There is a tiny probability event it would be you - tiny, but positive. The worst that happens - you loose a buck. Dreams are worth more than a buck. It could be (from a certain viewpoint) and absolutely rational transaction. Yes, on average it costs money - about as much as a can of coke. Unless your objective in life is to maximize expected monetary payoff (in other words, unless you are a robot) there is nothing intrinsically stupid about buying that ticket.

Disclaimer: I myself never buy lottery tickets.

[ag]

If I have a buck to spare, I  might buy a lottery ticket, but I'm not expecting to win. Worst case scenario: I'm out of a buck. Not exactly tragic.

So, you have money, and you throw it away on something you know will almost certianly yield no value. I'd say that's bad at math. I supported TN getting the lottery a few years back, but have come to change my mind on the subject.

Well if not spent on the lottery ticket it'd most likely end up in a stripper's G-string. Not sure which you'd consider better.

Not where I would have spent the dollar, but that's irrealavant. It was your dollar. You got what you wanted from it. With the lottery, you get nothing. In short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5QGkOGZubQ&NR=1

You got a chance to dream (and, with a tiny probability, you'd change your life). A dream is worth more than a dollar to you. Rational choice theory says you should buy that damn ticket