Questions Involving Math/Psychology

[DaProfessor23]

I just had a dream about probability questions . Here is what i would like help understanding

1. If you could flip a quarter infinite times would it be expected to have a 50/50 outcome?

2. If answer to 1 is yes then what if the "flipper" found a way to get different results by flipping a certain way or something like that.

3.What formula proves this theory if answer is yes. if not true then what disproves it?

4.Is the world based on Randomness?

Any type of serious answers or links to answers is appreciated.

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Here is most of the dream that i remember. if anyone would like to help me understand any of it , feel free too.
Basically what happend was i was in a dark room and there was a guy who keep asking me questions like this " If i flip this quarter infinite number of times will the heads/tails be 50%/50%? " I replied " yea according to probabilty" he then said what if i figure out a way to flip the coin in a certain motion that gets heads more than half the time, would it still be 50/50?
i didnt have a reply for this and it kind of confused me . he then got mad and said you know what forget it , and how could you even say that it should be 50/50 if you flip the coin infinite times if it is not possible for you to test it? at this point i got up and headed for the door ,when i went through it it lead back to same room. i sat down again and the guy said that i cant escape fate and i should just figure out a answer to the questions so i can leave. He then asked another question. he said if the most of the world is based on randomness of many factors than when the universe was formed was it random? i then woke up confused lol .im not too informed on any of these things that were discussed. there was alot more in the dream but couldn't remember everything.

[JOHON8]

Sorry if I can't answer your questions but this might help...

google: gambling fallacy

Since we are in a gambling forum, I notice there are a lot of people getting very philosophical about this business. Just remember this is exactly the road the bookmakers want you to go. Stick to logical reasoning and basic math/science.

[Salamander]

You can never walk from one side of the room to the other, because first you have to go halfway across the room, then once you reach the midpoint of the room you have to walk halfway from there to the other side, and once you reach your new midway point, you have to go halfway of whats left from there to the end of the room,etc. there will always be a new halfway point infinitely small as it may be, and so of course I have proven you can never ever get to the other side of the room.

[ProphetofProfit]

The man in the dream was trying to show you that in a deterministic universe, if you know all the factors that influence a coin flip (starting position, force applied, direction, altitude, the wind etc) then the probabilities aren't necessary as you will have 100% confidence in predicting the correct outcome. Assuming that the coin doesn't have free will itself and choose to be heads or tail or whatever. But because you don't know all the factors and their influence, you have to rely on probability theory to estimate outcomes.

*Not really sure that the universe it totally deterministic.
*Would like to know.

[xbalto]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers

[Borat38]

I don't know about how the math works for coin flips in infinity, but I do know that I can flip coins a certain way so that most of the time, my desired outcome happens. It's all in the thumb.

[Air Jimmer]

In theory do you think that you could create a machine that would flip the same outcome 100% of the time?

[wrongturn]

1) Yes to 50/50 when coin is balanced and flip high enough
2) No surprise for other result if above conditions do not meet
3) If not 50/50, all mathematicians would be out of job now
4)

[Peregrine Stoop]

do a binomial distribution to get the expected outcomes

[EasyHustlin]

A wise man once told me, "Philosophy is bullshit."

[Flight]

Read the book

http://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/1400067936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304571333&sr=8-1

[dj_destroyer]

If there's a chance a coin will land 50/50 over an infinite numbers of flips then there's also a chance the coin would land 100/0. It's just the least likely scenario rather than the most probable which is 50/50.

[suicidekings]

With respect to coinflips, you can practice flipping a coin in such a way that you can influence the expectation of heads or tails. Try flipping the coin such that it has 2-3 full rotations to give the impression of a fair toss, but control the height so that you're always trying to catch it after the same number of rotations, and always know what the starting position of the coin is (heads up? tails up?).

So from the perspective of the observer the toss is 50/50, but the flipper might know he can hit 7/10 on heads. Adding skill to the coin toss is what good handicappers do.

[innn]

A wise man once told me, "Philosophy is bullshit."

Do you mind if I ask "How did He know?" , unless he was very philosophical about it

[Pot luck]

The Coin Flip: A Fundamentally Unfair Proposition?

http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/the-coin-flip-a-fundamentally-unfair-proposition

By the way, on average, the difference between the number of heads and the number of tails increases with the number of flips.

[xbalto]

the first author on the paper cited is a really brilliant guy, Persi Diaconis. he's written about a lot of game topics like card shuffling. i think he used to be a street magician or something before going into math.

[wrongturn]

The Coin Flip: A Fundamentally Unfair Proposition?

http://www.codingthewheel.com/archives/the-coin-flip-a-fundamentally-unfair-proposition

By the way, on average, the difference between the number of heads and the number of tails increases with the number of flips.

That is for sure. But the ratio between head to tail is closer to 1 with increasing number of flips.

[lcscanada]

lol if you flip a coin infinity will it be 50/50?
Are you stupid? I guess. Infinity is not a number, it's a changing variable. 1000 is a number. 10503040460 is a number. Infinity is not a number.

[DaProfessor23]

lol if you flip a coin infinity will it be 50/50?
Are you stupid? I guess. Infinity is not a number, it's a changing variable. 1000 is a number. 10503040460 is a number. Infinity is not a number.

It was hypothettical question smarta$$. I wasn't speaking literally .And so if you flip a coin 234235234534 times and the outcomes are 60/50 then at what number does it round out to 50/50?