The monty hall problem in one of this week's readings (in wheelan) offers a perspective on why it is so important to understand and trust probability theory. it's conclusion is counter-intuitive to some people, so people will sometimes strongly resist changing their minds to obtain a better result. it illustrates how we tend to commit to an opinion or a choice we've made even when we should be willing to change our minds in the face of new data. explain whether you agree or disagree with the idea of switching as described in the readings, and offer a reason why your opinion should be correct. (note: switching is a good idea, so if you disagree you'd better offer a good reason.) discuss how this scenario might be seen in other decisions that we have to make in engineering, or that we might observe being made by management. do you think probability theory enters into people's thinking sufficiently?

Why learning about people and places around is important?

Sara and her friends were at an iowa football game in iowa city. sara is a life long resident of iowa and goes to college at dmacc. while she was in iowa city, robert smashed into her car when he ran a red light. sara was seriously injured and taken to university hospitals in iowa city (fortunately her injuries were not life threatening but laid her up for a long time and she had to drop out of college for the rest of the semester). robert is from michigan and was in iowa city to see the game and then to party later. at the time of the accident robert was drunk (at least legally - he blew a 0.17 and the limit is 0.08). sara has sustained about $500,000 in damages between her current and future medical bills, pain/suffering, lost wages, etc. also her car was totaled in the accident. can sara sue robert in a federal court? explain why or why not. (be sure to mention the two primary factors associated with suing someone in a federal court in a case like this.)

Your family is planning a cruise vacation to the caribbean. you were planning on going in july, but you heard july is hurricane season.why do you think there are more hurricanes during the summer? when would be a safer time to visit?