• howrar@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    That’s the wrong question to ask. “important people are more likely to be in a plane than unimportant people” is valid as a partial explanation only if we assume that all aircrafts have similar crash probabilities and are flown with a similar number of passengers.

    The frequency with which I personally fly does not impact how often other people fly. All it does is give you one data point on how often other people in my situation might fly, and we don’t know how many others are in my situation, so that information is also useless.

    • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      Let us assume 2 people fly in planes. One of them does so 10 times a month. The other 10 times a year. The risks are higher for the 10 times a month flyer.

      • howrar@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        In a world where there are exactly two people who ever fly, that would make sense. Now what if there are 12 people who fly 10 times a year a 1 person who flies 10 times a month? Will it be more likely that someone in the group of 12 dies in a plane crash, or the one person who flies 10 times a month?

        • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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          3 hours ago

          I see what you’re saying but it’s splitting hairs. The rich guy uses an airplane more often that others do so he’s more likely to die in a plan crash simply because he’s more likely to be a plane the first place.