wolfhesse

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Vladimir Arnold

'H. Whitney told me that the problem (intended
for fourteen-year-old American school
children) of whether 120% of the number 80 is
a number greater than, smaller than, or equal to
80 was correctly solved (in a nationwide test) by
30% of the students. People making the test
thought that 30% of the school children understood
percentages. Whitney explained to me,
however, that the number of those who really understood
was negligible with respect to the whole
sample. Since there were three possible answers,
the statistical prediction for a correct random
choice was 33%, with a 5% uncertainty.' -- arnold97