Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!caip!brl-adm!brl-smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: net.sci
Subject: Re: Birthday matching
Message-ID: <1967@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 5-Jul-86 03:25:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.1967
Posted: Sat Jul  5 03:25:33 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Jul-86 09:05:16 EDT
References: <3719@decwrl.DEC.COM> <136@cci632.UUCP> <1314@psivax.UUCP> <14715@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 16

Gee, weemba, I surprised you didn't also notice that Friesen
misapplied the 23-birthday principle.  What he said would be
equivalent, in terms of birthdays, to saying that in a room
of 50 people if someone stood up and said "My birthday is the
fifth of July" that there would be a good chance that somebody
else would also have the fifth of July for a birthday; clearly
wrong.

On the other hand, I'm not defending psychic showmen.  We used
to consider them a branch of magic, which is not at all due to
strange forces, spirits, etc.  Although magicians seldom used
to state publicly that their acts are just illusions, they do
know that, and generally frown on people who use similar
techniques to exploit public gullibility.

Dunninger is probably turning over in his grave..