Re: [asa] Re: Ages of the patriarchs

Hi David,you wrote:

>>I'm no mathemetician or statistician either, but I do know that you have to go beyond the basic initial probability calculation to test the hypothesis that {1.....100,000} in perfect numerical sequence represents a random occurrence. If we applied a chi-square test or some other statistical test, I'm sure we'd be able to reject the null hypothesis that {1....100,000} in perfect numerical squence represents a random sequence, with a very high degree of confidence.<<

Apparent randomness is not the issue. If the number sequence was advertised in advance or predicted than whatever the sequence was would be just as improbable as 1 to 100,000. The odds of any number sequence occuring in a specified order is just as unlikely as any recognizable number pattern.

Take the sentence, "Amy's baby chews doughnuts each Friday." What's the pattern? Each first letter is in sequence. Okay, so what? The patriarch's ages taken from a particular text forms a number pattern. What does that prove? Another set of ages from another text would yield another number pattern. What significance could we attach in accordance with the spiffyness of the different patterns?

In this case, however, we know there is at least one error in the MT because it omits a patriarch and his age. It's like having a portrait painted of your wife. It may be a beautiful picture but the painter made her brown eyes blue. So which is correct, the beautiful picture or her drivers license?

~Dick

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Received on Thu Feb 22 21:12:24 2007