What Are The Chances Infographic
Dec
06
Have you ever wondered how likely it is that you’ll win the lottery, get struck by lightning or become a pro athlete?
See the infographic below for the answers; each pixel represents your chances. How lucky are you feeling?
89 Responses to What Are The Chances Infographic
You should include the chances of getting killed in a terrorist attack, which are astronomically low. Though the fear-mongers would not like us to believe that.
wow way to take something interesting and turn it into propaganda for your beliefs why don’t you just stfu and enjoy it.
Propaganda is something that is false in order to persuade people to one side of an argument. It can’t be propaganda if it’s true my man.
Ironically, you have selectively represented the facts, especially in a misleading way, to persuade someone to your side of the argument. That is the worst kind of propaganda, but not the entirety of it.
There still isn’t really a reason to get that offended by it… People freak out way too much about mountain lion and shark attacks. Why not show how they freak out way too much over terrorist attacks?
Actually, it can be propaganda if it’s true. The word propaganda is usually assumed to refer to something not truthful, but really it can be truthful.
Propaganda is not, by definition, false. Very often it is, or at least exagerated, but any sort of effort to persuade opinion on a macro level, either positively or negatively, is propaganda.
It is propaganda, but it’s also a decent point and completely true.
i dont see y u guys r taking this so seriously its just statistics, if any of u people have taken any form of a stats class u would know that these numbers could all change drastically and besides that i didnt see any propaganda
I totally agree with you that was super interesting and he totally made it suck
Guess who is are the top fear mongers.. terrorists.. and while the chances of being killed by one may be low (depending on your definition of terrorist, you seem ignorant though so I assume you mean terrorists of middle eastern descent) the chances of being affected by their actions is really very high. So I don’t why you felt the need to share that on something that is just supposed to be fun but I hope you don’t come off so pompous and naive in person.
Who is are? How is being struck by lightning fun? How is being killed by a mountain lion just for fun? Where did you get your facts on being affected by terrorists actions is really very high?
Thanks for illustrating exactly what he meant. Who’s fear mongering, when you are the one claiming “chances of being affected by terrorism” are “really very high”. Now that’s calming and realistic, right? ZOMG.
Sometimes the internet makes me lose faith in people. This entire conversation (all sides of it) is an example. You all missed the point of everybody else’s argument. Way to go guys. I hate the internet.
“STUF! Why don’t you get off it then a**hole?”
“Wow, somebody’s pretentious.”
“You do realize you are no better by replying right?”
“Ur dum.”
Getting off.
It’s hard not to be in this case.
Yes.
Probably.
Good bye.
Lay off the irony dude, it’s embarrassingly palpable
nice tr0000000lll brooo
i think the likeliness of getting killed by random objects such as carrots, mattresses, flea infestation, cars blowing up, etc should be added(:
I was thinking the same thing. And I would have enjoyed the graphic more if I saw it. It is true, we have so many more pressing things to worry about and yet we are willing to give up our rights and the rights of all future Americans for nothing more than security theater.
stumble!
Same here
Stumble! Oh yeah love it!
stumble!
You should add the chances of stumbling upon this page =P
stumble > terrorism
Stumble is the best, and it seems every page I stumble upon has some comments about people stumbling on it
What are the chances of changing social classes in the span of a lifetime?
actually, pretty good if you don’t have too many kids or get divorced.
Those make it more likely to change classes…downward.
bahaha
Lizz that is a good question. I just found out about a village in China that uses free enterprise and social justice in such a manner that everyone in the village has 250,000 US dollars in the bank and they are now building a city. All the lies we are told to keep us down. The greedy will not always be with us if I can help it.
wooooo!! lets do this
The Winning $1000 at McDonald’s thing surprised me. I had no idea the odds were so bad!
Also, you spelled “being” wrong on “Beeing [sic] born with 11 fingers”.
– Author Note: That is definitely spelled wrong, I will have it fixed shortly. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Great graphic. I like that astronauts are more rare than presidents… Although, I would like to play a devil’s advocate for a second.
Even though your odds of winning the lottery are terribly low, your odds of winning if you don’t play is a solid zero. But, if you’re willing to throw one dollar to purchase a ticket for that game, the difference from zero to the odds of 1 in even 130 million are astronomical! Now, your odds benefit decreases as you buy more tickets, so there’s no reason to waste your wages on playing the games. However, what is one dollar a week or a month to you?
Also, as a side-note benefit, the lottery is really a voluntary tax right. So by playing 1 dollar, you’re helping to fund schools! Get your neighbors to play, they’ll love you if they’re 1 in 130million! =}
too right. and besides, someone always wins eventually, and their odds are the same as mine (or thereabouts), so why not throw down a buck when the prize gets ridiculously huge? you never know. just don’t spend the rent, or even the beer money hahaha.
If so would play every week, but the truth is that all this money in the end only serves to line the pockets of four political
There’s a rational approach to this–compare the value of the dollar you spent and the ticket you bought. The expected net benefit of keeping the dollar is the dollar itself, of course, plus the value of your time and energy used in getting it. The expected net pre-tax benefit of the lottery ticket is $198,000,000 (the current estimated jackpot) divided by 135,145,920, which is about $1.47. That says “buy the ticket, it’s worth more than your dollar”. But wait! You’d have to pay Uncle Sam at least $69,270,362 in income taxes (from the IRS 2009 tax table), which means you’d really only net $128,729,638. So your after-tax expected value of the lottery ticket is really $128,729,638 divided by 135,145,920, or $0.95.
bet the chances of the money actually going to education is pretty low as well.
What are the chances of getting a member of the religious reich to respond rationally to anything?
zero
This makes you sound as narrow-minded as the very group you are claiming is…. overgeneralizing is the single most, scholarly challenged, logical fallacy ever… period…. ask anyone worthy of being open minded who has a college degree worth anything… they will tell you this exact thing.
St00pid getting attacked by a shark is 0% chance if your on land,
but if you go out on sea and swim around with them your chances wouldn’t look so bright
I think that the probability of you getting hit by lightning is higher than you winning in the lottery.
Chances of being hit by lightning are pretty good, ive been struck, but never won anything on a lotery
I was struck 7 years ago. I played the lottery afterward… not a winner lol
I have been struck by lightening and won a little in the lottery. maybe it evens out?
The chances…are good!
…So there’s a chance! *buys 10 tickets*
eh, i still play the lottery
WORTH A SHOT
It is a tax for people who will never understand math. I will never understand people. You probably voted for bush (there is a ‘chance’ he will not act like an inbred idiot and destroy my country)..
…ouch…
LIKE THIS COMMENT!!!
Good work John
So you have a better chance of becoming president of the USA than
of being attacked by a shark? There were 39 shark attacks in the USA alone in 2006. I’m pretty sure there weren’t more than 39 presidents.
Sounds fishy to me…
I personally don’t think the presidential bit should be in there. something like that isn’t really the same thing as getting struck by lightning or being bit by a shark. becoming president requires work, where as the others are more like being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time.
Right place at the right time? Sounds exactly like a President to me.
so unfortunately true Jerry!
Ahahah I see what you did there, with the whole sharks and it all sounding a bit fishy ohohoh you do make me laugh >.<
yup
some of these odds are not accurate. The President one especially. The words used imply that becoming president is like a lottery where everyone has an equal chance which is not true. I don’t have the same chances as say a Yale graduate with presidential aspiration and powerful connections.
Where if you are playing cards the odd of being dealt a royal flush stays the same as long as the deck is shuffled every time.
Agreed. Surely more people are attacked by sharks that become President of the USA? I for have have no chance of presidency, not being a US citizen, so where does that enter into the statistics?
This poll is for Americans silly…
The statistic is for someone picked out of the general population at random. The chances of someone dying of cancer are higher if they expose themselves to carcinogens every day but in general the probability is taking everyone into account.
It’s like you have a 1/6 chance of rolling a 2 on a die. That doesn’t mean I’m ever going to roll a die, it’s just a statistic.
What this really shows is a ratio; the number of people who will be president compared to the number of people who won’t, rather than something created specifically for your job.
holy $h!t 1 in 2 chance of getting cancer!
Actually your chances of getting cancer are 1 in 1, that’s right, 100% . . . if you live long enough. If you outlive every other way to die you will eventually get cancer. Your body will naturally “turn on itself.” Every time a cell replicates it loses a telomere (part of the genetic coding for replication). If you live long enough your cells loose too many telomeres to replicate properly and start growing out of control. This is cancer. That’s why it can’t be “cured.” We’re all going to die. Start getting used to the idea.
However, not every person gets cancer. They die sooner. Your reasoning only works if people don’t die, which they do.
Note from Admin of OnlineBlackjack.com:
Thanks for all the comments. I know some comments are questioning the validity of the odds, I would agree that not all of them are scientific and likely are a bit off. Though they are commonly quoted stats and the point of the infographic is to give you a general idea of how unlikely certain things can be.
Oddly, all I get is the description, a line, then responses. Where’s the infographic??
All odds are 50/50…..either said event will happpen, or it won’t.
everyone in this room is now dumber from hearing that…
I hope you don’t vote.
agreed.
At the end it should say, Chances of being you: 1 in 6,800,000,000
How about the odds of the OTHER lane of traffic moving faster?
Odds of you not even noticing when your lane is moving faster = 100%
take a chill pill and observe reality.
I proved this on the M25 round London. I observed the other lane for 3 minutes, changed lane and found that my new lane now went slower. I did this 8 times out of 10. Not exactly scientific but damn frustrating!
Likelihood of dying in a plane crash actually depends on the airline:
http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/2009/06/09/which-airplanes-and-airlines-are-the-safest/
Surely your odds of becoming a pro athlete are much higher than winning an academy award.
There are 24 Oscar categories now. Even if 3 people shared each award that would be 72 Oscars a year. You’d only need each NFL team and NHL team to create a single pro athlete in the year the odds are about the same.
Actually the chances of you being you are far greater than 6,800,000,000 to one. Given all the potential sperm/egg combinations that did and didn’t occur in your and all of your ancestors’ lifetime(s). Statistically speaking, you don’t even exist.
What are the chances of being born?
Wow I enjoyed the stats but I read a few comments and got to hear people jumping up each others throats* . I feel a strong feeling of hate for this page and everybody on it now. Thanks for ruining my fun.
*admin edit
how can i get a chance to get 1 million $ ?
Edible Oysters do not contain pearls.
Whoah,… $*%T just got real deep.
Chances of anything ever posted on the internet, regardless of subject, causing an argument 1 in 1 .
Investment guru Jonathan Pond called the lottery a “tax on the naive.”
Population of US: 310million. average life expectancy: 78 years. average number of presidents in a 78 year period: 20. So, not taking into account factors such as how many of the population are eligible to become president, the age range allowed for a president, etc, chances of becoming president (using only US figures) is closer to 1:15,000,000.
Appreciate the sentiments of this page (ie. don’t waste money gambling), however I think it would be far more powerful if the figures were a little more accurate, allowing people to focus on the message rather than the numbers.
p.s. My chances of becoming US president: 0 – I’m Australian
This is actually pretty interesting. Heh. I get the fact that these are all statistically speaking, not exact, unlike some people (Please don’t start an argument….). If you actually think about it, how can anything posted a few months ago be exact to every person reading it now? At least, I don’t think that technology has been created yet…
You all are so ignorant it’s beautiful. Stumbling FTW!!
i won the big lotto as a sperm.now i am 785000000th on the worlds rich list.not bad eh.
To the people who are arguing about terrorism: Shut the %&# up!
To the man who created this Infographic… thank you sir, I was very interested in these statistics.