Sequence Read Online Free PDF Page A

thirteen per cent of the population says Ernie and Bert.
    As DR. GUZMAN writes 13% on the board, MR. ADAMSON follows the phone wire to a desk.
    MR. ADAMSON
    Did you get a research grant to study that?
    DR. GUZMAN
    Somebody did. What I’m saying is, everything has an order. It’s fundamental. It’s intrinsic. The order is everything.
    Under some papers on the desk, MR. ADAMSON finds a cordless phone base.
    MR. ADAMSON
    Why does it matter if it’s Ernie and Bert or Bert and Ernie? They’re still the same people.
    DR. GUZMAN
    Muppets. Ernie has no DNA. Ernie has no parents. Ernie has no God.
    MR. ADAMSON
    Everything has a God.
    DR. GUZMAN
    Even Oscar the Grouch?
    MR. ADAMSON
    Even you.
    The cordless phone locator alarm beeps.
    DR. GUZMAN holds up the phone handset.
    DR. GUZMAN
    Looking for this?
    She climbs the ladder, places the phone on a shelf, out of his reach.
    We have a hypothesis to test. Heads or tails, Mr. Adamson.
    MR. ADAMSON
    Why not tails or heads?
    DR. GUZMAN
    Ha! So what you’re saying is, it doesn’t matter. We all put our pants on one leg at a time. Whether it’s your right leg first or your left, the order doesn’t matter, right?
    MR. ADAMSON
    You still end up wearing pants.
    DR. GUZMAN
    Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. It does matter. Would you believe which pant leg you put on first is a question that has significant scientific implications? And, it’s predictable.
    MR. ADAMSON
    Are you telling me you can predict which leg I put on first?
    Auditorium
    THEO
    What’s the secret?
    CYNTHIA draws on the board: Hs and Ts.
    CYNTHIA
    I’ve been analyzing your picks. Tails. Heads. Tails. Tails. Heads. Heads. Heads. Tails tails tails tails tails heads heads heads heads heads heads heads, and, last year, heads.
    THEO
    I’m honoured. And disturbed.
    THEO nudges toward the door.
    CYNTHIA
    Notice anything interesting?
    THEO
    About what?
    CYNTHIA
    About the sequence.
    THEO
    Like what?
    CYNTHIA
    How do you make your picks?
    THEO
    I pick them out of a hat.
    CYNTHIA
    Bullshit!
    THEO
    If you really must know, I make my picks by flipping a coin.
    CYNTHIA
    You pick the result of the coin flip by actually flipping a coin?
    THEO
    Seemed appropriate.
    CYNTHIA
    So you take your lucky coin…
    THEO
    No, I lost my “lucky coin” after year six. So now I use any old coin. It’s not the coin that’s lucky. Although, I will say, year seven was a bit suspenseful.
    CYNTHIA
    And you flip it.
    THEO
    Once a year.
    CYNTHIA
    And by flipping that coin you got that sequence. Tails. Heads. Tails. Tails. Et cetera.
    THEO
    The last eight have been heads.
    CYNTHIA
    Yes. That’s quite a feat in itself. Do you know what the odds are of getting eight heads in a row? One in 256.
    THEO
    Most people are betting on nine in a row. The odds in Vegas are six to five for heads this year.
    CYNTHIA
    Are you telling me millions of people collectively believe that because you’ve had eight heads in a row you’re more likely to have nine?
    THEO
    Hundreds of millions.
    CYNTHIA
    Idiots!
    THEO
    Why are they idiots? How do you know they’re wrong?
    CYNTHIA
    They’re being seduced by the last eight heads. But the odds of the next one being heads remains one in two.
    THEO
    They still might be right.
    THEO checks his watch. He wears it on his right wrist.
    What time is it? I should make my pick.
    CYNTHIA
    This year, I’d pick tails.
    THEO
    Why tails?
    CYNTHIA
    Trust me.
    THEO
    If you’re so convinced, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?
    THEO opens the door.
    CYNTHIA
    Okay. If it comes up heads, I’ll sleep with you.
    THEO stops.
    THEO
    Go on.
    CYNTHIA
    Let’s examine your sequence mathematically. One tails. One heads. Two tails. Three heads. Five tails. Eight heads. One one two three five eight.
    She circles groups of Hs and Ts, then writes 1 1 2 3 5 8.
    THEO
    That’s my briefcase combination. One one two, three five