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Friday, 27 May 2011

Non-Transitive Dice to Blow Your Mind

Posted on 07:41 by Unknown
When it comes to games of chance, there's usually a fairly easy way to win: cheat. Of course, if you get caught, the price you pay might be your knee-caps...

Another way is to be up to date on your probability theory, play a game of non-transitive dice, and be careful about which dice you choose to play with.

Transitivity is a property whereby if A bears some relation to B, and B bears the same relation to C, then A also bears that same relation to C. For instance, if A>B, and B>C, then A>C. But not all games are transitive. Rock/ Paper/ Scissors would be an example of a non-transitive game because rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock (don't ask why).

Now, you might not think so (I certainly didn't), but it turns out you can make non-transitive dice, and if you play your cards right, or dice, I suppose, you can beat two different players at the same time. Here are two Cambridge professors explaining this mathematical insanity that's sure to stimulate your noodle:



And if that was too fast for you, check out a more detailed explanation that you can read as slowly and carefully as you need.
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