Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Godless Dave · 09-12-2002, 08:03 AM

RJS, do you really think the Christian God would involve himself with something as petty as the New York State lottery? If we are going to consider supernatural explanations for those lottery results, the Christian God would seem one of the less likely of those explanations. That's why I brought up Loki. Or maybe the machine that generates the numbers was influenced by a psychic force produced by all the people in New York thinking "9-11".

Back to non-supernatural explanations, maybe whichever member of the Gambino family is responsible for rigging the lottery decided to get cute.

MarcoPolo · 09-12-2002, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Godless Dave:
...maybe whichever member of the Gambino family is responsible for rigging the lottery decided to get cute.

If anyone knows a number where I can reach this person, I'd like to ask a favor involving the Texas lottery.

Kosh · 09-12-2002, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MarcoPolo:


If anyone knows a number where I can reach this person, I'd like to ask a favor involving the Texas lottery.

Wouldn't that be dubbya?

Anyone know how many balls there in the entire pool for the NY lottery? Are there 27 balls, each numbered 1 to 9?

simian · 09-12-2002, 08:10 AM

RJS, I don't know what it would take to get me to believe in gods. Some evidence would be nice. I think random events are suffecient to explain 9-1-1 as the balls came out. Roughly 1 in 1,000 odds (don't remember how to handle order in the statistics), but then 9-0-1 (Sept. 01), any of the flight numbers, the number of stories in the twin towers (alone or together) - I would guess you would be hard pressed to come up with a combination that doesn't mean something related to Sept. 11, 2001. Heck 666 would be taken as an indication satan did it, 123 would indicate a new beginning, the posibilities are boundless one you start trying to justify numerology.

In short, any combination would have seemed equally miraculous to a "true believer".

Simian

RJS · 09-12-2002, 08:14 AM

Exactly 1 in 1,000 (good job).

The original title of the thread was "Just to Mess with You". I'll leave it at that.

Godless Dave · 09-12-2002, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MarcoPolo:


If anyone knows a number where I can reach this person, I'd like to ask a favor involving the Texas lottery.

He'd be happy to do you a favor. Someday, and that day may never come, he may ask a favor of you.

Skepticwithachainsaw · 09-12-2002, 08:25 AM

9-1-1 = The 9th of November (UK dating system), what's so miraculous about that?

Can we have a list of all those lotteries that involved New York on that day that DIDN'T produce results including the numbers 9/11 or 11/9 etc?

[ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: Skepticwithachainsaw ]

Jamie_L · 09-12-2002, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kosh:
So, do you see this, and the closing of the futures price on Tues ($911.00) as:

- A sign from God that he is on our side?

- A sign from Allah that he's laughing about 9/11?

Please show all work.

A sign that someone was monkeying with the reporting system?

Jamie

sir drinks-a-lot · 09-12-2002, 09:43 AM

I went to the NYC lottery website, and discovered that they draw numbers twice daily - so the odds are already down to 1 in 500. What i really wanted to know was if the order of the numbers matters? For example, if they first draw an 8 and then draw two 9s, does it matter that they drew the 8 first, or does it just count as two 9s and an 8?

simian · 09-12-2002, 10:06 AM

I don't think the order matters for this one. If you are looking for 911, then the possible combinations (000-999), it can only occur once in that 1,000. Of course, any "magical" number would count.

The odds of 911 not occurring in any given drawing would be (.999), so the odds of it not occurring twice is (.999)^2 (about .998), 1 in 500 as you stated, unless I am forgetting my statistics.

Simian

D'oh, I'm an idiot - .998 is 1 in 500

D'oh, I'm an idiot and a poor proofreader - caught part of my error but not all the first time - thanks Mageth

[ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: simian ]

[ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: simian ]

09-12-2002, 08:25 AM	#17
Skepticwithachainsaw Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: In your Imagination Posts: 69	9-1-1 = The 9th of November (UK dating system), what's so miraculous about that? Can we have a list of all those lotteries that involved New York on that day that DIDN'T produce results including the numbers 9/11 or 11/9 etc? [ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: Skepticwithachainsaw ]</p>

09-12-2002, 10:06 AM	#20
simian Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO area Posts: 1,924	I don't think the order matters for this one. If you are looking for 911, then the possible combinations (000-999), it can only occur once in that 1,000. Of course, any "magical" number would count. The odds of 911 not occurring in any given drawing would be (.999), so the odds of it not occurring twice is (.999)^2 (about .998), 1 in 500 as you stated, unless I am forgetting my statistics. Simian D'oh, I'm an idiot - .998 is 1 in 500 D'oh, I'm an idiot and a poor proofreader - caught part of my error but not all the first time - thanks Mageth [ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: simian ] [ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: simian ]</p>

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09-12-2002, 08:03 AM	#11
Godless Dave Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: With 10,000 lakes who needs a coast? Posts: 10,762	RJS, do you really think the Christian God would involve himself with something as petty as the New York State lottery? If we are going to consider supernatural explanations for those lottery results, the Christian God would seem one of the less likely of those explanations. That's why I brought up Loki. Or maybe the machine that generates the numbers was influenced by a psychic force produced by all the people in New York thinking "9-11". Back to non-supernatural explanations, maybe whichever member of the Gambino family is responsible for rigging the lottery decided to get cute.

09-12-2002, 08:10 AM	#14
simian Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO area Posts: 1,924	RJS, I don't know what it would take to get me to believe in gods. Some evidence would be nice. I think random events are suffecient to explain 9-1-1 as the balls came out. Roughly 1 in 1,000 odds (don't remember how to handle order in the statistics), but then 9-0-1 (Sept. 01), any of the flight numbers, the number of stories in the twin towers (alone or together) - I would guess you would be hard pressed to come up with a combination that doesn't mean something related to Sept. 11, 2001. Heck 666 would be taken as an indication satan did it, 123 would indicate a new beginning, the posibilities are boundless one you start trying to justify numerology. In short, any combination would have seemed equally miraculous to a "true believer". Simian

09-12-2002, 08:14 AM	#15
RJS Regular Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tampa Posts: 303	Exactly 1 in 1,000 (good job). The original title of the thread was "Just to Mess with You". I'll leave it at that.

09-12-2002, 09:43 AM	#19
sir drinks-a-lot Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cole Valley, CA Posts: 665	I went to the NYC lottery website, and discovered that they draw numbers twice daily - so the odds are already down to 1 in 500. What i really wanted to know was if the order of the numbers matters? For example, if they first draw an 8 and then draw two 9s, does it matter that they drew the 8 first, or does it just count as two 9s and an 8?

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