Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

[deleted]


Do significant digits matter in these sort of probability calculations? Yes, but no more than normal.

.0051 x .8 / (.0051 x .8 + (.99 x .096)) ~= 4.1%

.0149 x .8 / (.0149 x .8 + (.99 x .096)) ~= 11%

But, when dealing with cancer those are about the same as 8% aka I want to double check with more tests not having someone cut me open.

PS: Be it 99.9999 or .0001% doctors only ever know a probability. Which is why they want to "run more tests".




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: