Two roads diverged in a wood...

What is the probability that a randomly selected American adult would say that they took the one less travelled by?

Is this probability larger or smaller than the percentage of american adults that think they're better than average drivers?

Sure, it can't be answered exactly, but part of being good at probability is coming up with reasonable guesses to complex questions. Fire away!

[Bozeman]

90%

Now, suppose that N people randomly choose a road. How many will be able to honestly say they took the one less traveled by?

Craig

[Ray Zee]

i think robert frost was walking.

but 90 % of people would say so from the country--50% from the city.

smaller. who would think they are worse than an averge driver.

all poker people have taken the road less traveled and it has made all the difference.

[baggins]

the sad thing is to see so many people who are clones of each other pretending like their road is less traveled, completely convinced of their smug 'uniqueness'.

of course, very few people are going to say they are a less than average driver. very many of them would be wrong. if you can't attest to this yourself, trust me then. i drive for a living. i am convinced somebody is watching me and when i get on the road they call up all the idiots and send them out to cut me off and pull the craziest crap you can think of while im on the road.

i was recently in a car accident where a car from the center lane decided when she got to the intersection that she actually wanted to turn right. instead of checking her mirrors and seeing me approaching in the right lane, she just gunned it, giving me almost no reaction time, and causing me to slam right into the side of her vehicle.

the cop on the scene refused to assign fault in the incident, leaving it up to the insurance companies. but he told me the girl said that she was just turning right, and i hit her. the cop said that if that were true, the damage would have been to the rear of her vehicle, not the side.

smart cops. not smart enough to show up before an hour had passed since we called them, though (the station is 3 stoplights away).

Baggins,

Was the customer who had ordered the pizza you were delivering mad because he got his cold pizza an hour late?

[scalf]

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] can't there be more than two roads...you gotta have at least three choices...or generally you are just picking the least "bad" choice...gl [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

[lorinda]

Wonder how many poker players think they are better than average....more to the point, how many think they are better than they are?

[baggins]

sorry dude. i dont deliver pizzas. if that was an insult, then you are precisely the kind of scum who thinks his lofty position at some computer firm makes him 'better' than the guy that delivers his pizza. take a whiff, man. your [censored] stinks like everybody else's.

or 'better' than the guy that drives him to the airport. as that is my job, i drive for a transportation service that runs airport shuttles to and from a hotel 25 miles north of O'Hare. we go anywhere people want to pay to go, but mostly to the airports. its not a glamorous job, but it pays my bills right now. and driving doesn't bother me.

[Bob T.]

I believe that about 3 out of 4 would say that they took the road less traveled, but if I remember correctly, about 95% of Americans believe that they are above average drivers, so it isn't even close.

Good luck,
Play well,

Bob T.