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This is a question Amazing displays of ignorance

Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic tells us: "My dad's friend told us there's no such thing as gravity - it's just the weight of air holding us down". Tell us of times you've been floored by abject stupidity. "Whenever I read the Daily Express" is not a valid answer.

(, Thu 18 Mar 2010, 16:48)
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That's not really ignorance
It's just lack of a crucial detail. Specifically, how many men she had sex with around the likely time of conception. If it was just those two (as implied), 50/50 would be right.
(, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 0:42, 1 reply)
No, it's about the frequency of sex with each partner
If she had unprotected sex with the live-in guy five times a week and the other guy once a week, then there's a 1-in-6 chance that he's the father. We don't know how many times she had sex with either man, nor the more crucial details of her fertility cycle, but calculating the odds involves a little bit more than dividing 100 by the number of partners.

Gah, I feel autistic just typing all that.

Good call by the OP on "disinterested", though. That always bugs me.
(, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 9:22, closed)
disinterested
OED's first entry for disinterested actually lists disinterested and uninterested as synonyms. It does note that many people consider this usage incorrect, but that does imply that its sort of 50/50, doesn't it?
(, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 9:58, closed)
Ah, yeah.
This would be a good example of why I regret choosing a degree that requires a fair bit of maths and statistics.
(, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 21:47, closed)

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