@neiltyson Which is, incidentally, exactly why there's never been a real life Sherlock Holmes. The "deductions" would only occasionally fit.
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@nataliereed84@neiltyson Randi wrote about that in "Flim-Flam"; Holmes only works because he lives in a clockwork fictional world. -
@Doubting_Tom@neiltyson Exactly! In real life, improbable things are too probable to effectively "know" things through probable guesses.
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@neiltyson But the number of likely things that can happen is much, much larger, by definition. -
@ManhattanPast Everything that happens is an unlikely event. Even something as small as a raindrop hitting your windshield as your driving. -
@JKyleDunbar Then Neil's statement is nonsense, right? If everything "that can happen" is equally likely then the word "unlikely" means nada -
@ManhattanPast That's exactly the point he was trying to make. -
@JKyleDunbar His point was to say something nonsensical? I doubt it. I think he means that we should expect outliers... -
@ManhattanPast Paradoxes & oxymora are self-contradicting, yet may convey some intuited truth. -
@RolandKausen Indeed, but not in this case, I think. It's just poorly constructed.
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@neiltyson Douglas Adams infinite probably driveThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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@neiltyson Indeed, for an average human a 'million-to-one-chance' event occurs about three times a day ... ;)Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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@neiltyson My cat just sang You Are My Sunshine to me. That was pretty dang unlikely. It's likely he was being sarcastic, though.Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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Is it weird that I have a hard time deciphering between astrophysicists and stoners?
@neiltyson is deep...Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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@neiltyson Given enough (space)time.Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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@sellers737 hahahaha holy fuck he knows! Just give it a year Neil, just give it a year!Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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RT
@neiltyson: Just an FYI: The number of unlikely things that can happen is so large, you can be assured that unlikely things are likely.Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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@neiltyson Is the coolest guy on earth.Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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