[This is a back-issue of this website’s newsletter]
The Bongo-Kazongo Track I came across an interesting paradox the other day, called the Absent Minded Driver problem. I won’t go into details here – you can read about it at this blog post. In the paradox, you imagine a lost explorer on a track like the one pictured here. He has to take the second exit, but he can never recall which exit he’s on. Therefore, he makes his decision based on a probability he decides on beforehand. The paradox comes about because there are two ways to work out the best probability. Both sound perfectly logical, but they give different answers.
I figured that the explorer’s plight would make a good topic for a game, so I’ve created one called Dinosaur Dodger. In the game, the computer will be advising 200 explorers on your behalf – and you must choose how likely it is that the explorer should go straight. The best strategy (probability) is discussed in the blog post linked above – in short, it depends on what everyone else has chosen.
It takes about a week or two to advise 200 explorers – so the computer can send email updates from time to time (the email address is deleted when all the explorers have either reached home or become dinosaur snacks). When you choose your probability, you’re also provided a link you can bookmark to check your player’s progress even without the emails.
Kids playing the game will get an intuition for probabilities and what they mean. If they try to use the strategy tips in the blog post, they’ll also get practice doing arithmetic with fractions or decimals. There may be other things they’ll learn as well… not to follow the crowd maybe? Oops, I’m giving too much away!
Anyway, the game is now online, and the dinosaurs are hungry! Rraaawrrr!