Quote:
Originally Posted by Ivan Viehoff
It is also the case that quite a large number of university mathematics professors fail to understand the Monty Hall problem, another situation that involves some moderate sophistication in the understanding of probability.
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That's my complaint about statistics. You need quite a bit of math background to tell the difference between a proper and inproper use of statistics.
Regarding the Monty Hall problem, I once had a professor show a "proof" using Baysian statistics. His conclusion was correct, but his proof was flawed. I pointed out the subtle flaw in the proof, and also that his "proof" actually indicated that one should never switch doors ( which we know is incorrect). I pointed out that a subtle flaw in a proof can result in a completely different conclusion, so how can one be certain that a statistical proof is free of a subtle flaw. That is one of the reasons that I am always skeptical about statistical proofs.