|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
--to last week's stochastic, but I was just re-reading the def. and was struck with inspiration (or something) when I saw the word probabilistic. I was reminded of that contest (by the Washington Post?) where people submit "words" made up to fit funny definitions. And I thought that a word for someone who's likely to lose his temper easily would be probaballistic. It's quite probable that I actually saw this word somewhere; and if someone points that out, I promise I won't go ballistic.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,919 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,919 Likes: 3 |
----please, draw me a sheep----
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
I do not recall seeing your neologism, but I see and use stochastic almost daily. Many people are confused about and skeptical or fearful of stochastic processes - confusing the redundant term "random chance" with the unrelated concept of "chaos." (And mathematical chaos is not related to the common conception of the word.) Stochastic (random) processes can be regular - and patterns emerge, otherwise there would no benefit of studying probability and statistics. If you roll a six-sided die many times, and each number appears near the same number of times, then the die might be a fair one. If you get mostly 1s then the die is probably not fair. But if you roll a fair, normal die it will not come up "peanut butter" or "elephant" or "blue". Contrary to what is commonly believed, "stochastic" does not mean "unconstrained." Also the law of large numbers is quite dependable. Casinos can thrive with an advantage of just a fraction of a percent.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Though the terms are completely unrelated in meaning as well as etymology (as far as I know) I always think of the word "stoichiometry" when I see "stochastic."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
stoichiometry Eh? Whazzat, please?
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 963
old hand
|
old hand
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 963 |
Quantitative relationships and proportions in chemical compounds and reactions. That's a simplified version.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
stoichiometry Eh? Whazzat, please? Salman Khan explains it pretty well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQG3rKSZUQRemember back many years ago when you took HS Chemistry? Way back when you took HS Chemistry, your teacher may have described a particular reaction to you and then asked you questions like, "When X and Y are combined to produce Z, how many grams of Y are required to produce a certain amount of Z?"
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Ah. Thanks, both of you. [hugs]
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,374
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
162
guests, and
0
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|