What's The Chance You'll Answer This Poll

A thing that is very likely is exactly as possible as a thing that is very unlikey.

  • Total voters
    101
  • Poll closed .
Let me consider the motivation behind the question for a moment. It's possible that Epix meant this question as a sincere enquiry as to the nature of probability and possibility. It's equally possible that he/she meant it as a means of scoring a cheap debating point. However, one of these is very likely, and one is very unlikely.

Since the above paragraph makes perfect sense, I think that demonstrates that Epix is wrong.

Dave
 
In The Infinite Book, the author made the proposition that in a truly infinite universe (or universes) anything that was possible MUST occur.
So it's a matter of scale to give one the "probability" factor.
 
Interesting debate. I don't think that my statement was particularly unclear. I was using both possibility and probability in the strictest mathematical sense.

Honestly, I was worried that people would consider "something that is very unlikely" to include the set of things that have no likelihood whatsoever. I meant to include in the set only things that have a likelihood greater than zero.

Still, I'm a little worried that so far 9 people believe the most reasonable course of action is for Picard to blow up the damn ship.
 
Penn and Teller addressed this in their unreleased video game Smoke and Mirrors. If you chose to play one of the minigames in "Impossible" mode, you were instantly killed. Lou Reed would then appear and say, "Impossible doesn't mean very difficult. Very difficult is getting a Nobel Prize; impossible is eating the sun."

PS: I also think Picard should blow up the damn ship, even though I didn't vote that way. I just don't want to get blamed for the damn ship blowing up.
 
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Irony said:
Assume for the moment the answer is no.

All ideas are possible.
Something being impossible is an idea.
Therefore something being impossible is possible.
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Ergo, nothing is impossible.

And since nothing is what's impossible, there must always be a something, hence a/the universe must exist. And so on ...
 
On a forum I used to frequent, a regular reckoned everything was either possible or not possible and therefore all bets were even money ;)
 
As to the quesiton in the thread title it was 50%. I decided by coin toss and so I answered.

The answer I gave was that I agree in the sense that I understand the intended meaning and concur.

I did double check the dictionary definition of the word "possible."

–adjective 1. that may or can be, exist, happen, be done, be used, etc.: a disease with no possible cure.

2. that may be true or may be the case, as something concerning which one has no knowledge to the contrary: It is possible that he has already gone.



Use possible in a Sentence

See images of possible

Search possible on the Web

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English < Latin possibilis that may be done, equivalent to poss ( e ) to be able ( see posse) + -ibilis -ible

—Related forms non·pos·si·ble, adjective
non·pos·si·ble·ly, adverb

—Can be confused:  possible, practicable, practical (see synonym note at the current entry ; see synonym note at practical).

—Synonyms
1. Possible, feasible, practicable refer to that which may come about or take place without prevention by serious obstacles. That which is possible is naturally able or even likely to happen, other circumstances being equal: Discovery of a new source of plutonium may be possible. Feasible refers to the ease with which something can be done and implies a high degree of desirability for doing it: This plan is the most feasible. Practicable applies to that which can be done with the means that are at hand and with conditions as they are: We ascended the slope as far as was practicable.
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As such by the standard definition if the probability is non-zero then it is possible.

There are however other usages of the word possible mentioned. Where possibility is used instead of practical. It therefore becomes a qualified term rather than an absolute. So something can be considered as more possible than something else rather than either it is possible or not.

It would be particularly uncharitable to ignore a meaning that made sense and assume that the quote was intended to mean something which doesn't make sense. Yet it's still worth mentioning that these other usages exist. If your correspondent had been employing another usage then you would not be correct in imposing your own definition onto them.

Briefly checking context was tiresome but I note that in context you were introducing the term under your own definition rather than denying the possibility of another usage. As such I agree.

That said some have voted against you so I guess that by you own terms you will be acting as if you were wrong.

Loss Leader said:
So, just bring me one other person who agrees with you about my so-called mistake, and I will admit to it. I'll admit to it and appologize.
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Loss Leader said:
Interesting debate. I don't think that my statement was particularly unclear. I was using both possibility and probability in the strictest mathematical sense.

Honestly, I was worried that people would consider "something that is very unlikely" to include the set of things that have no likelihood whatsoever. I meant to include in the set only things that have a likelihood greater than zero.
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I routinely speak of impossible things as unlikely. Example:
It is very unlikely that a total recursive algorithm for deciding validity in first order logic will be discovered within my lifetime.​
I am especially likely to say things like that when I hear people saying that nothing is impossible, as has been said within this thread.
 
Hmmm. that's a good point. I had interpreted very unlikely as meaning a non-zero probability. However it may equally be used to describe a probability which not exactly known but bounded by a low number and zero.

As such something that is impossible but not known to be impossible could still be known to be very unlikely and described as such.

The set of things that are reasonably described as very unlikley therefore includes things that are impossible.

Would it be fair to say that the set of things that are reasonably described as very likely does not included things that are impossible?
 
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Ocelot said:
Would it be fair to say that the set of things that are reasonably described as very likely does not included things that are impossible?
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I don't think so, because what is reasonable depends on the state of our knowledge, which is often imperfect.

When Hilbert stated his tenth problem, it would have been reasonable to describe the existence of the requested algorithm as very likely. Had that not been so, Hilbert's tenth problem would have asked whether any such algorithm exists instead of asking for a specific algorithm. As we now know, however, the problem is impossible: there is no such algorithm.
 
Hmm......it comes down to language and usage but I think when you say something is as possible as something else then you are implying a probability so I'd disagree with your statement.

Example:

My boss is currently not at his desk. It is possible he is in a meeting, that he has nipped to the toilet, that he has been taken by the CIA for questioning in connection with a terrorist attack on South Wales and that he has been abducted by aliens.

It would be a bit of a tortured usage of the English language for me to insist that these are all equally possible.
 
Ocelot said:
Hmmm. that's a good point. I had interpreted very unlikely as meaning a non-zero probability. However it may equally be used to describe a probability which not exactly known but bounded by a low number and zero.

As such something that is impossible but not known to be impossible could still be known to be very unlikely and described as such.

The set of things that are reasonably described as very unlikley therefore includes things that are impossible.

Would it be fair to say that the set of things that are reasonably described as very likely does not included things that are impossible?
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No, not having that. Things are either impossible (probability =0) or very unlikely (probability >0). The fact that we don't know whether something is truly impossible or only very unlikely doesn't (shouldn't?) change the meaning of the words.
 
Last of the Fraggles said:
No, not having that. Things are either impossible (probability =0) or very unlikely (probability >0). The fact that we don't know whether something is truly impossible or only very unlikely doesn't (shouldn't?) change the meaning of the words.
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I disagree: if something is very unlikely it might still be impossible.

What if I say that it is very unlikely that you are currently pregnant based upon not knowing your gender and knowing that even if your were capable of being pregnant people tend to spend less time being pregnant than not.

If it turns out that with the addition of knowledge I don't currently have I can revise my statement to say that it is impossible that you are currently pregnant does that mean that I was previously wrong to say "very unlikely". If so what should I have said instead?
 
Something impossible has zero likelihood.
Something possible can lie anywhere on the likeliness spectrum.

Those things we know to be possible however are , for the most part, things which exist - and are therefore 100% likely.

What's interesting is what percentage of all possible things are things we know to exist? Possibly a very small fraction.
 
What's the ratio of primes/non-primes?
Why does god force me to read threads like this?
 
Ocelot said:
I disagree: if something is very unlikely it might still be impossible.
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The problem with your statement is that it's still true if you replace "unlikely" with "likely" because you are talking about the fact that your assessment of the situation might be flawed. Taking that into account, the original thing being discussed is still correct:

"something that is very likely is exactly as possible as something that is very unlikely."
 
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