Brainteaser

For all the intellectuals among us and also the nons, here is a question:You come home to find the kids arguing yet again (and it's just the beginning of summer vacation… sigh)! This time they're arguing about, of all things, whether any two people on the planet have the exact same number of strands of hair on their heads. Your daughter contends it's a common occurrence; but your son says, "No way! Well… maybe in the case of twins it's possible, but otherwise, people are like snowflakes, no two are exactly the same." When your daughter says she can prove it, your son challenges her to do so. Can she? :-D

my initial response was that the girl could pray ask the Lord and He would tell her as He knows exactly how many hairs are on everyones heads at any given time (matt 10:30, Luke 12:7), that would be my spiritual answer.my other answer would be without the help of the Lord, defintiely not, as black haired women have on average 110,000 hairs blonde women have 140,000 hairs and on average they lose 100 hairs a day so no, how would she count them?however again if she got 2 completely bald people....... ;)

got a good riddle heard it once quite toughA Bible character without a nameWhose body to destruction never cameWho died a death none died beforeAnd whose shroud can be found In every grocery storewho is it?

Mrs Lot

Does anyone have any ideas to the question, and I promise you it is not a trick question. ;-)

I'd say that your son bears the burden of proof. There are six billion people on the planet. Your son has to prove that no two people have the same number of hairs on their heads out of six billion people. Your daughter only has to produce two.But does the fact that we are all uniquely different mean that absolutely everything has to be different? Certainly not. We have two eyes, two ears, ten fingers, ten toes...etc. Yet we are all unique. Why then should it be a stretch of the imagination to think that it's possible to have the same number of hairs on our heads? The uniqueness is not in our body, but in our person.

I would first suggest that the variables involved in determining that no two persons are identicle involve exceedingly more considerations than simply hair folical count. However it is a simple question as I see it. We know that 300,000 is on the high end in terms of hair count. that would be a dense populated large head.If we look at this in terms of probability we know that we only have a total of 300,000 variations + or -. The probability that 300,000 people would have 0- 300,000 hairs is 100%. Yet, if we were using a random number generator with a range from 0-300,000 it would be 'almost' a statistical impossibility to not duplicate one of those numbers before all 300,000 people were assigned a number.If we were fortunate enough to do the impossible- it would be impossible to yield a number for the 300,001st person without duplicating someones number. So if we know that there are 6,000,000,000 people on earth we know that there would not merely be at least '2' with the same number- but there would be at least 20,000 people at any given time with the same number of hairs. In order for it to be mathmatically 'possible' for no two people to have the same number of hairs in a world of 6 billion- the average human head would have to have 6 billion hairs on it. In other words the head would have to be 20,000 times as large as it is. If the average scalp has 150 square inches that would mean a head with 3,000,000 square inches or 20,800 square feet! That is a head with a surface area roughly half the size of a football field. The assertion that no '2' individuals have the same number in a world of 6 billion would be an impossibility on no less than 2 specific unalterable counts.

well that burst my bubble, less than hour, well done, Mrs. Lot is indeed correct

Gee RobertW, thanks for humouring me. :-D You are correct, you must have done stats some time. Unfortunately I fell into the nons on this one, blew me out of the water.

You are correct, you must have done stats some time.When I was in H.S my computer teacher was an ultra smart math teacher. He got me thinking about probabilities. I guess it is a way of coming to terms with things. It relates to my walk with God in that at times I see things happening that I know are impossible without God intervening. Helps me see God at work in my life and the life of others when I can quickly estimate how likely some event was to take place. This is not a general thing I do- but at times when things come together with many variables I see God's handiwork (providence) and am encouraged. I read once where an older believer told of how young believers get excited when they see God answer their prayers- but as you grow in God you are taken back by His providence. Being able to see things come together that were wildly impossible without God and you never prayed about it- is an awesome thing. God Bless,-Robert

However it is a simple question as I see it. We know that 300,000 is on the high end in terms of hair count. that would be a dense populated large head.It would certainly be on the 'high end' for own personal hair count. I won't get into the territory of dense populations or large heads. ;-)

Ah, the question was already answered before I had the chance to post.Our Stats teacher once asked if 10,000 homes received for six consecutive weeks in a row, market predictions from a trading house - and if those predictions turned out to be absolutely correct each and every week, would be willing to trust them with an investment? Some said yes, some said no, and the teacher showed then if in week one the firm distributed 640,000 pamphlets, half predicting movement one way, and half the other, then the next week they did the same with the 320,000 that were correctly predicted, and again with the 160,000, then 80,000, then 40,000, then 20,000 and finally the last 10,000 get six aces in a row. From that ten thousand perhaps only 5% (500 people) would invest - but that would more than pay for their pamphlet expenses...I gave a statistical answer to the original question, but having just seen robert's answer, I edited it out. It was only posted for a minute or so anyway.Dan/\\/\\/\\

Well, this is not an answer to your question, but something else to consider.It says that the very hairs of our head are numbered.So, to me, this means that I could go find a hair on the floor or the couch and God could tell me: "Yes, that's number 10,461."He's a great God!

RobertW wrote:It relates to my walk with God in that at times I see things happening that I know are impossible without God intervening. Helps me see God at work in my life and the life of others when I can quickly estimate how likely some event was to take place. Thats an interesting point, because the way that the answer is deduced is called 'proof by contradiction'. Interesting. I suppose its like taking something to its furtherest degree and working back till we have a logical framework by which to measure things by.

Did you know that if there are 23 people in a room that there is a greater than 50% chance that at least 2 of them will have the same birthday?This flies in the face of our intuition (mine anyway) but it is statisticaly accurate.

Interesting. I suppose its like taking something to its furtherest degree and working back till we have a logical framework by which to measure things byI think also that we live in a day of 'higher criticism' which elevates the standards higher than necessary. In other words we should not refuse to see God's providence unless the probability of something happening is like getting hit by lightening 4 days in a row (and surviving) or something. Yet the reason why we need to use caution in this area is that folk will start to 'see God' doing things He is not doing and reading into things that are not meant to be read into. Some things are merely coincidence and some folks see everything as prophetic in that sense. One can really get off into 'lah' 'lah' land if their not careful. Yet some things are self-evident. Either way I don't run my life by these things I merely see them as an opportunity to be encouraged in God's providence. Our lives must be directed by God's word and the Holy Spirit.God Bless,-Robert