3 ms·
> These all appear to be in rough alignment Do they? What about? “The random variable X is a function mapping each outcome to the age of one of my cousins”?
by kgwgk 2y ago
> These all appear to be in rough alignment
Do they?
What about? “The random variable X is a function mapping each outcome to the age of one of my cousins”?
Does that seem like a valid definition of the concept of random variable to you because the age of my cousins are numbers - just like probabilities mentioned by glitchc’s comment are numbers?
- defrost 2y agoLeaving aside that I'm mainly drawing out a proper expansion of an opaque non constructive comment from the PoV of another; "probabilities" and "age of one of my cousins" do not sound at all similiar. One has the feel of a potentially continuous interval of values that can be mapped | scaled to perhaps match up with other forms of expression, the other is a finite discrete set of probably integers between zero and 120 with total set size likely less than a 100.
- kgwgk 2y agoOk. Consider the age in days or microseconds of my cousins if that makes it sound more similar. The point is that the random variable is about mappings to general numbers. “The random variable X is a function mapping the outcome to its probability” makes as much sense as “The random variable X is a function mapping the outcome to the exponential of the square root of its probability” Those are valid definitions of two different random variables - not a general definition of “random variable”.