Chapter 12: Confirmations of Belief Summary and Analysis

When a person heads for the phone to call a friend and that same friend calls right before the person makes the call, many attribute the event to some kind of psychic power or activity. But actually, it is within the realm of probability which has nothing to do with magic. This probability thinking can be applied to miraculous events which are occurrences defined as nearly impossible. However, those events referred to as miracles are usually found to be within the range of probability. But such events stand out because they are unexpected and are catapulted to a magical status. Examples of folk numeracy include a focus on the minutia while ignoring the far more numerous and meaningless events that took place. For example, some site a few days of cool weather as proof that...