Fortune cookie predicts lottery numbers

[DavoMan]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3277796a4560,00.html
I know this is not magical or anything. But this time, the odds were broken.

 

[Drooper]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3277796a4560,00.html
I know this is not magical or anything. But this time, the odds were broken.

Only if the numbers containe din the winning fortune cookies were independently determined, which there clearly weren't. They were identical numbers printed in a "deterministic" process and clearly linked.

So it actually boils down to the odds that one fortune cookie might win, which is exactly the same as any other process for selecting numbers.

No statistically amazing feat at all. The article is incorrect in this regard,

 

[Number Six]

Imagine if an article was written every time a fortune cookie incorrectly predicted the lottery numbers.

 

[DavoMan]

Yeah I reckon. Yeah I know that 1 out of ten zillion fortune cookies being correct isnt actually amazing.

Just a bit of a buzz that for once a fortune cookie gave out the winning numbers

 

[Art Vandelay]

Number Six

Imagine if an article was written every time a fortune cookie incorrectly predicted the lottery numbers.

Or even every time any lottery is won (why is a fortune cookie predicting the numbers more impressive than a lottery ticket buyer?)

And presumably having more winners means that each one gets less money, meaning that it doesn't make much sense to use these numbers.