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November 19, 2011

Jitter

Here’s an old riddle, that some of you may have heard.

François lives in Lyons, and has two girlfriends: one in Marseilles and another in Paris. He can’t seem to choose between them, so he decides on the following strategy. The trains to Paris and to Marseilles both run once-an-hour. He decides to show up at the railroad station at random times, and takes whichever train comes first.

After several weeks, François finds that, on average, 9 times out of 10, he ends up visiting the girlfriend in Marseilles. Clearly, the Fates have chosen for him, so he dumps the girlfriend in Paris and proposes to the girl in Marseilles.

What’s going on?

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Posted by distler at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Followups (14)