Mathematical Analysis of Subjectively Dened Coincidences; a Case Study Using Wikipedia

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Mathematical Analysis of Subjectively Dened Coincidences; a Case Study Using Wikipedia - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2008, written by David Aldous.

Overview

Rationalists assert that real-life coincidences occur no more frequently than is predictable by chance, but (outside stylized settings such as birthdays) empirical evidence is scant. Authors describe a study, with a few real-life features, of coincidences noticed in reading random articles in Wikipedia. Part of a rationalist program (that one can use specic observed coincidences to infer general types of unobserved coincidence and estimate probabilities of coincidences therein) can be examined in this context, and ts data well enough. Though this conclusion may be unremarkable, the study may provide guidance for the design of more