What a week for probabilities and percentages! Earlier in the week, Tony Blair defended his security forces 101%, Wayne Rooney was rated by Sven Goran Eriksson that he was 300% certain he’d make the England squad. But Steven Gerrard said he had a good 50-50 chance of making the England team on Saturday… My comments were published on the BBC News Online’s Magazine Monitor earlier today…
We’ve had 101% from Tony, and 300% from the big man, but Steven Gerrard’s prediction is nonsense. If a good chance is something more likely to happen than not, then a 50-50 for him to play on Saturday merely states that it’s equally a bad chance… Maybe we should create a course on mathematical metaphors for politicians and footballers. 50% guaranteed to make some money on it.
Lester Mak,
LondonPermalink: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5059000.stm#thursdayletters
Well don’t we?