Yes. I've done this trick many times. It works probably 50% of the time, for me. Don Knuth has another version: take four index cards and write a big 1 on the front of the first, a big 2 on the second, etc. On card #3 write on the back: "Why do people always pick 3?" Trick: put the cards down on the table with the big numbers face up, in order, and ask someone to pick one "at random." they'll pick card #3 every time. or at least every time I've tried it. it seems to be essential to utter the words "at random" Thane Plambeck http://www.plambeck.org/ehome.htm Jud McCranie wrote:
A friend of mine was just watching David Blaine on TV. One of his tricks was to say "Pick a number between 1 and 50. Be sure it is composed of two digits; they have to be odd and not duplicates of each other."
Well, that permits only 13, 15, 17, 19, 31, 35, 37, 39.
The guy on TV and my friend chose 37, which is what Blaine guessed. Do people tend to choose 37 from this set?
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