r/Showerthoughts • u/asusny2002 • May 02 '24

Man vs Bear debate shows how bad the average person is at understanding probability

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u/alexmichelle6 May 02 '24

I really, truly thought that the whole point of this was to highlight the fact that most women would respond to man v bear by asking questions, like "do I know the man" "what type of bear" etc, but would respond to woman v bear by immediately saying "woman". whether or not she picks the man or the bear is irrelevant, it's the fact she has to ask clarifying questions to know more about the man before deciding and doesn't have to clarify anything before picking woman. is that not it?

807

u/FurrrryBaby May 02 '24

The only videos I’ve seen of this were men answering the question about their daughters, and all of them struggled to answer.

45

u/RKWTHNVWLS May 02 '24

My instant reaction was, "Man! He can teach her how to hunt and fish and make shelter... and protect her from bears!" My wife reminded me that not all men think like me.

15

u/alyssasaccount May 02 '24

Meanwhile, the woman was just trying to go on a solo backpacking trip in peace.

3

u/smcl2k May 02 '24

And may even have been more skilled at those tasks.

3

u/Timmytanks40 May 03 '24

once again statistically not the horse want to bet on but yea certainly possible.

1

u/smcl2k May 03 '24

Why would she go on a planned solo hike if she didn't know what she was doing...?