2 ms·
If an infinite sequence of all heads is a possible outcome, then it is not true that the relative frequency converges to 0.5 in the limit. It is obviously true
by danbruc 10y ago
If an infinite sequence of all heads is a possible outcome, then it is not true that the relative frequency converges to 0.5 in the limit. It is obviously true for many infinite sequences but if all heads is a possibility then it is not true in general.
Just to clarify, I am talking about the frequentist's claim that in the long run the relative frequency becomes the probability, i.e. P(x) = lim[n -> ∞] nx / n where n is the number of trails and nx is the number of trails that yielded x. So again, if an infinite sequence of heads is a possible outcome, then that would mean P(heads) = 1 while the frequentist asserts that it necessarily must become 0.5.
- effie 10y agoDoes the frequentist view really claim that infinite sequence nx/n always converges, for all possible runs? That is obviously false. The laws of large numbers only state that probability that the limit of nx/n is equal to 1/2 is 1. This is because all sequences are equally probable and there are overwhelmingly many more sequences that limit to 1/2 than sequences that do not. That is different from saying that the limit is always equal to 1/2, because there are these exceptional cases of low measure like HHHHH..., HTTHTTHTT...