Why the River-crossing Statistician Drowned

Related Link » The Flaw of Averages: Sam L. Savage On Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty
“Have you heard the one about the river-crossing statistician who drowns after determining that the water is, on average, only three feet deep? This, says author Sam L. Savage, is just one example of the flaw of averages.”
— ‘ReasonTV’

The Flaw of Averages
h/t Theo

The computer-based sampling technique "Monte Carlo simulation" was coined by the polymath John von Neumann. Von Neumann and Stanislaw Ulam, along with many other eminent physicists and mathematicians applied Monte Carlo simulation to help create the first nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) during the Second World War. LASL was later renamed the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Post #934 Why the River-crossing Statistician Drowned