I need to go from point A to point B. There is mode ONE which takes t1 time and there is mode TWO which takes t2 time. t1 is half of t2. The cost of ONE is equal to cost of TWO. Mode ONE and TWO come when they please - aka they are not running in fixed schedules.
I have reached point A. After waiting for 3 mins 30 seconds, i see mode TWO coming. What should i do? Should i skip this bus and wait for the mode ONE to come but what is the guarantee that my waiting time is less than (t2 minus t1). Or should i board this mode TWO and take twice time than it should ideally take.
Such is the complex mathematics of our daily lives. Humanity was never simple from day1. There are so many problems that we encounter like the above one. Generally they are taken care of by role play. Brain takes two roles, each role in favour of one mode and they quarrel. No wonder my brain is tired of quarreling with itself. In the end i think who wins is decided by whether i am left brained or right brained. It is specifically worse for Gemini who are gifted with these two mindedness.
"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd"
-Alexander Pope
2 comments:
I don't know if it will help, never used it myself. But if the travel time on the faster mode is more than 0.7 times the waiting time for the faster mode, then by waiting for it the probability that you will reach your destination faster is more than 50%. Just assume the arrival times of the modes are Poisson distributed to get this result. (I always take the cheaper transport btw)
Thank you Sumit for giving your valuable comment. Just to clarify again, both the modes of transport have same cost so, that is why the mind has to optimize time. had it been money, it would have been easy.
Coming back to your solution using Poisson distribution, although it is mathematically elegant, but as typical higher dimensional mathematics goes, it is practically useless as it ignores other factors such as patience to wait, and fear that today is the day when it will the (1-p) case, p being the probability of success.
Btw, is there a way to get access to listen what sharma ji is saying?
Post a Comment