Probabilities and Unpleasantness. The Mathematics of Everyday Life

Laws of meanness exist! The book will introduce you to them and show you that they are mathematically beautiful. And besides, they can benefit from them in a variety of everyday situations where there is uncertainty and multivariance.

Can a wave of butterfly wings in Brazil call a tornado in Texas? Is it true that rains are more often on the weekend? Why is most of the things always on the last night? Why “there are no comrades to the taste and color of the comrades, and the bus almost always has to wait long? The time has come to find out how the “Laws of meanness” work - from the law of watermelon crust (“Buying a multidimensional watermelon, you acquire mostly its crust”) before the observation of Ettor (“The neighboring line always moves faster”).

The imperfection of our world and life patterns have an objective mathematical justification. With the help of life examples, the author will introduce you to the world of non -school mathematics: the theory of probability and mathematical statistics, as well as adjacent regions - the theory of measures, the Markov chains, stochastic processes, lines, and dynamic chaos.

For whom the book
For a curious reader who seeks to develop mathematical and critical thinking.

For everyone who wants to be able to weed out informational noise and garbage in the news stream.

From the author
This book is not quite about mathematics. I invite you for a walk in some of its places, well known and have great practical benefits. But we will move in a somewhat unusual route. Not straight, as in a textbook, and not complicated and confusing, as in scientific work, but light, like aimless staggering in a good company under an interesting conversation. The reader can note to himself that crossed avenue or boulevard is a whole direction where you can go deeper.

In the country, mathematics speak their own language, and not all signs and inscriptions are easily translated into Russian. Sometimes I will give quotes in the language of natives. In other words, there are formulas in the book. But this is not the only alphabet of the language of mathematics. Formulas can be expressed graphically, and I will always accompany the equations with illustrations that can be understood intuitively. Why didn"t I refuse the formulas? In a mathematical country, it is not customary to believe everyone in the person, to rely on intuition, flair and experience. In use, only the proof is the hardest currency.

This, however, does not deprive the reader of the opportunity to admire incomprehensible badges, perceiving them as an ornament. And the author reserves the right to give mathematical laws not very serious and even frivolous everyday interpretations. After all, so much more interesting!