The value of Mathematics (and mathematicians)

I knew there had to be a good reason why God created math (beyond calculating my age and my taxes).

The Carnival cruise line had a serious fire on board one of their cruise ships that left the ship aimlessly floating with no power. Hence, no warm food, no showers, no lights, etc. The folks on the ship had to stay on it for about three days with the navy helicoptering in emergency rations such as spam. To compensate the passengers for their "cruise from hell," as some malcontents are calling it, Carnival has offered them free passage on any cruise of their choice. Some are a bit leery of talking the cruise line up on the offer.

But one guy explains, with impeccable logic,

"I'm a math person. What are the chances this would happen twice to the same person? I'm going with the odds. We're from Vegas. We're coming back."

Since I like logic, and can at least remember what it is like, I think this is a good use of math.


of course, this theory is tested by the fact that John Derbyshire is a mathematician. Nor does it take account of the fact, as math people assure me, that his chances of getting stranded a second time are exactly the same as getting stranded the first time.