"The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight," Jennifer E. Smith's latest novel, is a gorgeous, heartwarming reminder of the power of fate and an echo of the timeworn motherly advice that love could be just around the corner, and that it will come when you least expect it.
Along with others, Gary Shteyngart ("Absurdistan"), Darin Strauss ("Half a Life"), psychotherapist-turned-author Amy Bloom and Jennifer E. Smith ("The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight") reflected on Doctorow's personality.
It is a statistical inevitability that you will love my dog.
The most famous of those who wrote in this vein was Hemingway, whose bluntness and love of the statistical and clinical soon began to creep into what creative writing teachers now call the Literature of Fact, perhaps still the dominant influence on journalistic nonfiction.
Apparently, before the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, love could cure severe mental illness.
If half the fans surveyed hate the Yankees and half the fans surveyed love them, a statistical analysis could find that the average fan's attitude toward the Bronx Bombers was neutral.
J. P. Bouchaud describes his early love for statistics and how his ideas progressed into a company that uses statistical physics to model financial problems.
Of course, there's something absurd about a man who loves data railing against "statistical bullshit".
The desire be present in the room with a loved during CPR did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.078) between the two groups.
I want a love that lasts -- even though the statistical odds are against me.
