Originally written by David Kallans on May 19, 2009 11:03 AM Originally written by Dina Elsayed Imam I think the most important thing is not the possibility, "everything is possible", rather it is all about probability = "the more likely to be true".    But one must keep in mind that if one takes a cosmic view of time - billions of years - then events of extremely low probability become extremely likely to occur, and that if one views time as infinite, then extremely unlikely events become certainties.

Yes, David, this is possible (I don't know if it is probable, though). But what about the most probable, will it become the least probable by time, or will it be much more probable? I don't know if probability has an inverse relation with time or not. So I can't really be a judge of that.

Originally written by Dina Elsayed Imam I don't know if probability has an inverse relation with time or not. So I can't really be a judge of that.

Probability has a direct, not an inverse, relation with time.  The longer the time horizon, the more likely it is that any and all probabilities will materialize.  This probability reaches a certainty as infinity approaches.  At infinity, all events that are even remotely probable will occur; in fact, not only will they occur, but they will re-occur an infinite number of times.

And "the unlikeliness of the least probable possibilities to occur" being a probability; least probable possibilities might not occur after all.

And because I'm a law abiding citizen, I'll add this link:

Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena.^[1] The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single occurrences or evolve over time in an apparently random fashion. Although an individual coin toss or the roll of a die is a random event, if repeated many times the sequence of random events will exhibit certain statistical patterns, which can be studied and predicted. Two representative mathematical results describing such patterns are the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem.

Originally written by Dina Elsayed Imam on May 19, 2009 11:44 AM And "the unlikeliness of the least probable possibilities to occur" being a probability; least probable possibilities might not occur after all. And because I'm a law abiding citizen, I'll add this link: Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena.[1] The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single occurrences or evolve over time in an apparently random fashion. Although an individual coin toss or the roll of a die is a random event, if repeated many times the sequence of random events will exhibit certain statistical patterns, which can be studied and predicted. Two representative mathematical results describing such patterns are the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem.

This is the reality of life, Dina that things may or may not happen after all, this is the whole rationality.

Yes, Liliana. And this is based on rational thinking and logical deduction :D

Deductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning, sometimes called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. In logic, an argument is said to be deductive when the truth of the conclusion is purported to follow necessarily or be a logical consequence of the premises and (consequently) its corresponding conditional is a necessary truth. Deductive arguments are said to be valid or invalid, never true or false. A deductive argument is valid if and only if the truth of the conclusion actually does follow necessarily (or is indeed a logical consequence of) the premises and (consequently) its corresponding conditional is a necessary truth. If a deductive argument is not valid then it is invalid. A valid deductive argument with true premises is said to be sound; a deductive argument which is invalid or has one or more false premises or both is said to be not sound (unsound).