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Edited by Kabir903 at 22-12-2023 09:42 PM
Today, let's take a look at a problem related to the allocation of bets, and you should be familiar with the person who solved it; he also formulated Pascal's Law. Yes, it's none other than Pascal and Fermat.
The problem of gambling allocation arises when two individuals are playing a fair game with equal chances of winning. If they agree on who will win a certain number of rounds first, that person wins the overall game and takes all the bets. Alternatively, if the game is stopped halfway, how should the bets be fairly distributed? Pascal grappled with this problem for three years, pondering and exploring tirelessly. One day, Pascal had a glimpse of a solution, but unsure of himself, he wrote to a French mathematician and his good friend, Fermat, to discuss it together.
After a period of discussion, Pascal and Fermat solved the gambling problem, thereby establishing the fundamental concept of probability — the concept of "expectation." It's important to note that expectation doesn't necessarily equate to common sense; it may not equal the expectation for each individual outcome. Expectation is the average value of variable output, not necessarily contained within the set of variable output values. Worth mentioning is that the computer was originally invented by Pascal! We owe this great invention to Pascal's father, as Pascal created the computer before the age of 19 to reduce his father's repetitive calculations of tax expenditures. Pascal and Fermat not only solved the problem of bets but also initiated a different mode of thinking. They taught future generations that when deciding to do something, we shouldn't blindly base decisions on events that have already occurred; instead, we should focus on what is expected to happen in the future, known as expectation. |
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Post time 15-12-2023 20:37:17