The Monty Hall Problem is a brain teaser, named after the host of television show Let’s Make A Deal.
Imagine you have a choice of three doors. Behind one door is a star prize and behind the other two doors are lesser prizes. If you choose Door 1, the host opens Door 3 to show a lesser prize and offers you the chance to switch to Door 2.
Should you change your selection?
[Have a think and then scroll down for the answer...]
Answer:
Common sense would say that there are two doors left, and the star prize is behind one of them, so there's a 50/50 chance that you've already chosen the winning door. Right?
Wrong. If you change your selection you actually double your chances of winning!
We won't go into the full detail, but the fundamental reason common sense doesn't work here is that while your choice of door was random, the host's choice is NOT. Take a minute to look it up online to have your mind blown :)
The Monty Hall Problem is a brain teaser, named after the host of television show Let’s Make A Deal.
Imagine you have a choice of three doors. Behind one door is a star prize and behind the other two doors are lesser prizes. If you choose Door 1, the host opens Door 3 to show a lesser prize and offers you the chance to switch to Door 2.
Should you change your selection?
[Have a think and then scroll down for the answer...]
Answer:
Common sense would say that there are two doors left, and the star prize is behind one of them, so there's a 50/50 chance that you've already chosen the winning door. Right?
Wrong. If you change your selection you actually double your chances of winning!
We won't go into the full detail, but the fundamental reason common sense doesn't work here is that while your choice of door was random, the host's choice is NOT. Take a minute to look it up online to have your mind blown :)
