\u201cHi Jack, how are things.\u201d Jill sat down at the caf\u00e9 table where Jack was enjoying a cup of coffee and eating a croissant as an afternoon snack to relax after university classes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine, Jill, but feeling a bit weird,\u201d replied Jack, munching on his croissant.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me all about it, Jack, I\u2019m listening,\u201d said Jill. She ordered coffee and a donut from the hovering waitress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019m doing an internship for my course on statistics with a Dr. Schnitzelbrenner who is carrying out medical research using blind mice,\u201d said Jack, sipping his coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what does Dr. Schnitzelbrenner do with the blind mice,\u201d asked Jill, adjusting the dishes on the table to accommodate the coffee and donut being carelessly dumped by the waitress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Jill, he has a large black cat named Schreck \u2013 that seems to get fatter by the day \u2013 which he uses to frighten four blind mice into running out of their cages in the direction of five entrances, one containing a large chunk of their favorite aromatic cheese,\u201d explained Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat in the world is Dr. Schnitzelbrenner doing that for,\u201d asked an incredulous Jill. She moved closer to the table and crossed her legs, elbow on a knee holding up her head and gazing attentively at Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Schnitzelbrenner says he is testing the orientative capacity of terrorized blind mice compared with blind mice who are not in a state of terror, using a quadruple-blind testing method \u2013 all for the purpose of developing a drug for Big Pharma against disorientation,\u201d said Jack nonchalantly as he was ingesting the last piece of croissant.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow is this a quadruple-blind test,\u201d inquired Jill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Dr. Schnitzelbrenner is using four blind mice,\u201d explained Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I get it, that\u2019s why it\u2019s a quadruple blind test,\u201d laughed Jill.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd how will Dr. Schnitzelbrenner determine whether his medicine works or not,\u201d asked Jill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, if all the mice go into different entrances in any one trial, a light switches on and a buzzer sounds. It is my job as a statistician to record these trials, with or without signals going off,\u201d explained Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Dr. Schnitzelbrenner, if the terrorized mice all head for the entrance with cheese, then they are not to be considered disoriented and the drug works. If they all go to different entrances, then they are randomly well disoriented,\u201d continued Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm, tell me more,\u201d said Jill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf not too many mice die from the active substance in the drug, Dr. Schnitzelbrenner hopes to win the Nobel Prize for this new medicine, which he says will aid senior citizens who suffer from disorienting illnesses,\u201d added Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery quaint experiment, I must say, but senior citizens will not normally be in a state of terror,\u201d observed Jill.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Dr. Schnitzelbrenner, senior citizens actually do suffer from a suppressed subconscious fear-of-death-inspired terror, and that is really why they easily become disoriented,\u201d explained Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see. How long will you be working with Dr. Schnitzelbrenner, Jack?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust another week or so, after I calculate the probability of randomly well-disoriented blind mice each winding up in separate entrances, which I find a bit difficult,\u201d confessed Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about a walk in the park, Jack, to get your mind off Dr. Schnitzelbrenner\u2019s terrorizing research, and I\u2019ll give you some hot tips,\u201d she suggested, emptying her cup of coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cCapital idea, Jill.\u201d<\/p>\n
They paid and left the caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Can you work out the probability of a group of four blind mice all going into a separate entrance in any single trial with five entrances?<\/em><\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>