WWTBAM comes to physics class
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:35 pm
So today we operated on a 2 hour delay, which caused me to break out a new video from NOVA, and it had a segment about a mathematical notion called "Wisdom of the Crowd." Sir Francis Galton is credited with the notion, which is at least a little humorous, because apparently most of his work was originally intended to prove the opposite. Galton got the idea after witnessing a contest at a livestock fair, where people were asked to guess the weight of an ox. No individual person got it right, but the median of the 600 guesses was only one pound off the actual weight of the ox.
The video explained this, then used the ATA lifeline on WWTBAM as an example of the phenomenon. I just smiled.
The video explained this, then used the ATA lifeline on WWTBAM as an example of the phenomenon. I just smiled.
