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Can you solve the false positive riddle? - Alex Gendler

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4,266 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

Mining unobtainium is hard work – the rare mineral appears in only 1% of rocks in the mine. But your friend Tricky Joe has something up his sleeve. The unobtainium detector he’s been perfecting for months is finally ready, and it returns accurate readings 90% of the time. But can it really be trusted? Alex Gendler explains the false positive paradox.

What is prior probability?

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Alex Gendler
  • Director Outis
  • Associate Producer Elizabeth Cox, Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Content Producer Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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