Friday, November 12, 2004

The Big Picture

I've been hearing lots of talk about the "odds" of something happening, especially with the election. With that in mind, I looked up some data from the National Safety Council on causes of death in one calendar year for US residents (from 2001). Some of the more interesting results are:

Ignition or melting of nightwear (1 in 57,018,763)
Bus occupant (1 in 7,705,238)
Pedestrian (1 in 46,960)
Fall on same level from slipping, tripping, and stumbling (1 in 505,485)
Earthquake or other earth movement (1 in 10,181,922)

Contrast that to the odds of winning some lotteries:

Multi-state Powerball (1 in 120,526,770)
California Super Lotto (1 in 41,416,353)
California Fantasy Five (1 in 575,757)

Lessons? I guess I'll have to start working from home, cease walking on sidewalks, and find some place to live other than California (or, in new-governor speak, "Kahlifornia").



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