Faz

Believers tell me that faith is something that’s felt in the heart, something that hits you, and you ‘just’ know. Of course, me being me, I don’t buy that but I can’t disprove it either. Question is, do they really, in their heads, believe what they say?

Unlike politicians, I think they really do. Although I’m questioning the major religions of the world, I’ve been to exotic locations where masses of people were tranced-states, and others possessed by spirits, performing rituals such as fire walking and grotesque body piercings. Point is, these people were really ‘feeling it’.

There are those who were born into religious families or traditions (all around the world). If you have been doing, eating, believing something since the day you were born (and still are), then chances are these actions and beliefs become ‘automatic truths’, which do not require proof. It’s simply irrefutable, even if some observations contradict this. What’s more it doesn’t require any thought. Every human being (including me) should always be mindfully aware of this.

Group mentality is another important factor. When you are accepted into a group (be it a religion, a bunch of football supporters), members of the group sense a strength in unity: A common bond, struggle, ambition, etc. The group provides you security, but by definition you must have sacrificed some individuality (willingly or not) to gain acceptance into the group. But security may lead to complacency in thought, as the group has answered some of the most fundamental questions for you.

It appears to me that the group can simply sweep glaring contradictions under the rug, without much fuss. Members of the group also start to ‘self-censor’ their thoughts at first, maybe consciously, but eventually even that becomes automatic.

Approaching the problem of belief from the ‘evidence’ perspective has not worked. Not only would believers not agree, they’ll turn it around on me. So I’m trying another strategy here. I’d like to know your thoughts.

The lengths of red pencils are normally distributed with mean 6.5 and standard deviation 0.23. Two red pencils are chosen at random. Calculate the mean and variance of their total lengths.

Ok, no probs for E(X) = mean

E(2X) = 2E(X) = 2(6.5) = 13 (no probs here)

But as I understand, var(kx) = k².var(x), so:

Var(2X) = (2²).Var(X) = (4)(0.23)² = 0.2116

But in answer sheet it says Var(X) = (2)(0.23)² = 0.1058

Can anyone clarify what's going on here? Am I wrong? Help appreciated.

A CEO claims that at least 80% of its million customers are very satisfied. 100 customers are surveyed using simple random sampling. The result: 73 percent are very satisfied. What is the null hypothesis here?

Is it P >= 0.80? That's what it says here:

http://stattrek.com/Lesson5/Proportion.aspx?Tutori...

However, I've got another question from a textbook:

A manager claims that over 60% of a mall's visitors shop at the store. Let p be the proportion.

Then the null hypothesis is that p=0.6.

So in the first case, the claim is the NULL hypothesis, while in the second the claim is the ALTERNATIVE hypothesis. Am I missing something here? Thanks

A CEO claims that at least 80 percent of the company's 1,000,000 customers are very satisfied. Again, 100 customers are surveyed using simple random sampling. The result: 73 percent are very satisfied. Based on these results, should we accept or reject the CEO's hypothesis? Assume a significance level of 0.05.

ok, I know the procedure for this but what is the null hypothesis here?

Is it P >= 0.80?

coz that's what it says on this website (http://stattrek.com/Lesson5/Proportion.aspx?Tutori...

ok now I've got another question from a textbook:

A manager claims that over 60% of a mall's visitors shop at the store. Let p be the proportion.

Then the null hypothesis is that p=0.6.

So in the first case, the claim is the NULL hypothesis, while in the second the claim is the ALTERNATIVE hypothesis. What am I not getting here? Or has the website got it wrong?

I came across this question. Evaluate the limit:

lim x-->∞ (8x -√(64x²+6x))

I understand that you would multiply by the conjugate to obtain:

= lim x-->∞ -6x / (8x + √(64x²+6x))

How do you proceed from here with the denominator - how do you factor the x out?

Hi there,

Don't know if this is the right place for it. I leave my djembe in my apartment simply standing on the floor. I've noticed recently that for some reason, a fine powder is left at the base of the drum on the floor, so I suspect it's termites. Any ideas on how I can treat it? coz I really like this particular djembe I have.

Thanks

I know this is a big ask, but if anyone could at least point me in the right direction. I've got 6 checkboxes named chk1, chk2, chk3, chk4, chk5, chk6, chk7. For each of these when checked, I need to update a textfield called totalprice, by adding $100 for each check. Help appreciated.

Hi there,

Not much of a gamer, but what's the difference between Xbox 360 and the original xbox? Is the xbox completely outdated?

Thanks in advance.

(7!)^(1/7) < (8!)^(1/8)

Here's what I did. First raise to the power 56 on both sides to get:

7!^8 < 8!^7

7!^7 < ( 8!^7) / 7!

7!^7 < ( 8!^6) X 8

630(7!^6) < ( 8!^6)

How can I show it more explicitly??

Show that

a² + b² + c² >= ab+ bc + ca

for all positive integers a, b, c

I'm supposed to find the area in between

f(x)=ln(3x-2)-1 and g(x)=-4cos(0.5x)+2

I'm ok with finding the integral, but how to find the limits. This equation is pretty impossible to solve, isn't it? The answer says the point of intersection is at x=3.77 and x=8.3, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use a graphic calculator to figure this out.

Any help / suggestions appreciated

Solve 4tan² (x) - 4sin (x) = 1

Must be something I'm missing. Here's what I have:

4[sin²(x)/cos²(x)] - 4sin(x) - 1 = 0

Multiplying by cos²(x)

4sin²(x)-4sin(x)cos²(x) - cos²(x) = 0

4sin^3(x)+5sin²(x)-4sin(x)-1 = 0

Ugly cubic....What to do here?

Water flows out of a tank in the bottom. At time 't' minutes, the depth is 'x' metres. At any instant, the rate at which 't' is decreasing is proportional to the square root of the depth of water in the tank.

Part1

Write down a differential equation which models the situation.

Ok, no probs here: It is

dx/dt = -kx^0.5

Part2

When t=5, x=1

when t=0, x=2

Find t when x=0.5

ok, I know the answer but I can't quite figure it out.

I'm figuring you integrate both sides with respect to x.

On the RHS, I get (2/3)x^(3/2)+c, but I'm not quite sure about the LHS. I think I have to separate the variables but not quite sure how.

Help appreciated.