• otp@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    I think the question is usually frames as “how many people does it take to make it at least 50% likely that two people will share a birthday”, or more likely than not etc.

    A guarantee would need 366 people. But most people are satisfied with “more likely than not”, “90% chance”, or “99% chance”.

    EDIT: I meant 367, not 366!

    • [deleted]@piefed.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      2 days ago

      More than 50% is like 20 people.

      It would take 367 for a guarantee because of leap years.

    • frongt@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      11
      ·
      2 days ago

      366 would not guarantee it. That’s not how probability works. You cannot guarantee a shared birthday without selecting people. And not to mention, birthdays aren’t evenly distributed.

        • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          2 days ago

          366 people wouldnt guarantee no shared birthdays though. There could still be one leap year baby in that bunch. But what are the odds in that?

          2.6 • 10^-158 , if anyone is curious.

          • clif@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            2 days ago

            That sad experiment where 366 people in a room all have the exact same birthday.

            Statisticly unlikely, but definitely possible.

        • frongt@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          2 days ago

          I misunderstood the scenario. For some reason I was thinking that if you randomly selected people and had a duplicate birthday that’s what you didn’t want.