Hacker News Reader

That a specific ceramic pot survives is very unlikely, but some surviving it of a huge group less so. I guess you also have some cups left in your cupboard!

This of course is the statistical view point. On another level, seeing artifacts survive for thousands of years is fascinating and awe-inspiring.

View on HN

This is the statistical long tail indeed. I would also expect that a lot of these vases were buried in soil or on the sea floor where they were undisturbed for many years.

I was fighting with someone about this exact concept for hours.

They kept exclaiming how amazing it was that we (as specific people) were born and how infinitesimal the odds were.

Roll 12 6-sided dice in turn, record the sequence. What are the chances that specific sequence should be rolled? Less than 1 in 2 billion. Anything remarkable about that? Clearly not.

If your counterpart thinks otherwise, well…

Reply on news.ycombinator.com