I appeared on Zoom this morning as a backup source for a talk about the Monte Hall problem. The story involves a quiz show where a person has a chance to win a car. It is behind one of three doors. A participant picks one of three doors. The MC shows the participant that the car is not behind one of the other doors and asks if the contestant wants to switch his choice from the original selection to the remaining door. Many experts feel that a careful analysis shows it is always to the benefit of the contestant to switch to the other door. But many people feel there cannot be an advantage in switching. The best analysis of the math and conditions indicates that switching to the other door doubles one's chances of winning the prize.
It is a rather constrained, specialized problem but it can be an interesting one to work through.
After lunch, my book club discussed Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, a popular novel about a young girl who grows up alone in a swamp in South Carolina. I was tired and fell asleep during the discussion. I did read the book aloud to Lynn but I have forgotten the details and asked Lynn to remind me of the story. She remembered the story well and brought me up to speed.
