Monthly Archives: January 2011

The Monty Hall Problem.

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Does anyone remember the scene in 21 where Professor Keven Spacey is asking the protagonist about choosing behind three doors, two with a goat and one with a door behind it? Well in case you don’t…

3 years. 3 years ago I saw this movie on an airplane. 3 years later in a stats class I now finally understand this problem.  I’ve thought about this problem many times over the 3 years and now finally. I feel so enlightened.  That feeling of goodness at school would be second place right behind the last day of exams last semester. The sad part is that if I had wanted to know the answer enough, there are great explanations for how it works on YouTube.

The strangest thing that I can’t get over is that even though I know the answer, and cannot deny the proof that my professor showed us on the overhead, my head still makes it feel like it must be a 50-50 chance.  It just feels natural that way.  You’re a strange one, brain.

In case you were curious, the most easy to understand explanation that I came across was that when you first choose a door you have a 1/3 chance winning a car.  So, the chances that the host has the door with the car is 2/3 since he has two doors.  The fact that he shows you what’s behind one door doesn’t change the fact that his chances are still 2/3 while yours is 1/3.  So switch.



For another taste of stats, or COMM 291, I’ll describe another exercise the prof gave us.

He holds up 3 slips of paper.  The first one, pink on both sides.  The second, green on both sides.  The third, green on one side pink on the other.  The professor hides them behind his back and then asks the class what is the probability that if he randomly chooses one that it will be the double green.  The class is silent.  We all think it is a trick and no one wants to make a fool of themselves.  He reassures us that is it not a trick, although he also reassures us that half of the things he says are tricks.  A student says 1/3.  Correct.  Now he picks a card and shows us one side. A green side.  He now asks us what is the probability of the other side being green as well.




Care to take a shot at it?

Feeling Thankful.

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There’s some nasty virus going around that is leading to fevers, chills and headaches.  Strangely there are no runny noses or coughs.  I dealt with mine with a lot of rest, water, vitamin C pills and this weird Chinese point massage stuff my parents did for me.

If you’re going through it: I realize you might feel like you’re dying… but it will be over.  Eventually.

Being sick had one upside though.  I gained a new and sincere appreciation for my parents and for living at home.  Someday, I will grow up, be moved out and then one day I will be sick in bed with only enough energy to text one good friend about my miseries.  That day will be a grim one.

Actually, who am I kidding, I’d give up the loving attention for an extended curfew any day! Really though, I am thankful.  Thank you mom and dad.  I hope everyone has someone there, be it their roommate or sibling to care when they’re sick in bed.

I don’t know how I would deal with being sick and living on campus.  Good luck to those that are going through that! I can’t cook, but if you really want it, I offer to bring you a cup of hot water.

Blogging and my wellbeing.

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19 years young, seriously nearing 20 and going through that entering-adulthood-soon-who-the-hell-am-I stage and slowly exiting teen angst stage.  Perhaps I am just an emotional person and will never really leave the teen angst stage.

I started blogging since grade 7.  It was just a place for my thoughts that I wanted to share with someone and a place to practice HTML and photoshop.  As the years went by, I would post less and less in general and more and more only about my problems and other negative things of life. Occasionally there would be happy or random posts, especially happy things that I was hoping I wouldn’t forget with age.  But for the most part, when I was joyful, I was too busy to post and when I was sad I needed something to keep myself busy.  Although blogging proved to be a great vent, I really wish I had posted more happy things.

This winter break, I had a rough time with some stuff.  As a part of growing up, I learned things about myself that I really wish I had learned earlier and actively tried to change.  I learned about the things that make me a jerk and an idiot.  And I hated it.

It was New Years so I started looking at my 2010 posts (on my personal blog) and I came across a post where I posted about things that I loved about that day.  They were all simple things like singing along to songs with my friends in the car to a random hello text message from a friend.  These tiny little things from this long gone day made me so appreciative of life.  It cheered me up so much I couldn’t believe why I didn’t do it more often.

It made me think of Lillienne’s Things I Love Thursdays

It’s so simple.  It’s just the little things in life.  But it all makes such a big deal.

And then there is the joy of reading about other people’s joys… that’s a whole other deal.

Being happy is really easy sometimes isn’t it?  (Easy to say when you’re not down yet)  It probably is easy even when I am down, it’s just hard to realize.

Maybe I should start keeping track of daily joys somehow.

It’s the little things.  Do you agree?  (Or if you’re a fan of Catch Me If You Can too: Do you concur?)

Going Global?

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I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to live as an everyday person in another country and not as tourist.  It was honestly one of my major motivations for not only choosing UBC but going to university (although I probably would’ve regardless…)

The deadline is January 19 or January 21 for those who are wondering.

I’m stuck.

I can’t decide where to go, I just want to go.

You get to pick your top 3 and rank them and so far I have two stirring in my fantasies.  Keio University in Tokyo, Japan and University of Manchester in… well, Manchester, England.

Why Keio?  I’ve been studying Japanese since grade 9 and I really want to be put in the environment and see how it goes.  Japanese vending machines and convenience stores.  Selection of courses I would never get the chance to take here.  And to be honest, because I am Asian.  I’m all for stepping outside of my comfort zone but compared to going to, for example,  Norway, where I don’t speak the language and obviously look like I’m from far away, in an Asian country I would have a nice balance between comfort zone and non-comfort zone.  I think.

Why Manchester?  They speak English.  It’s in Europe, a continent I’ve never been to!  I like bands from the UK.  More than my love for the Arctic Monkeys, I love European architecture.  This is my chance to really experience what it is like as a local because I get to take exactly what the students there would take. (Where at Keio, I would be taking classes made for English speaking international students.)

The main dilemma though:

Going to Keio would be like missing out on term 2 and summer semester.  Graduation would definitely be delayed and co-op would be hard to apply for.  Going to Manchester would be like not missing anything at all, but I will miss out on the chance to take unique cultural based courses…

I think I need one of those pros/cons charts.

There is also something lingering in my mind that makes me not really want to apply at all:

I don’t want to stay away from my friends and family for too long.

“WEAK SAUCE!” says all the international students.  Haha.

“[This class] is not a spectator sport!”

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“Spectator sport”

is like the buzz word (well, phrase) of my 1st two days of class this term.  Among my professors anyway.  4/5 classes had mentioned this.

What kind of sports are spectator sports anyway?  How is that even a sport?

Just curious.  I agree though.  Life itself is not a spectator sport, but sometimes it feels like it.  Especially when I don’t get enough sleep.

A new “academic” term I heard that I was so intrigued by:

“Double clicking”

It is when you help someone else click their iClicker.

Do you like iClickers?  This is my first time using one so it has a nice “oo something new” excitement.  I’m sure it will die off soon.

I wish the bookstore would rent out iClickers for $5 a semester.