You Don't Want the Goat

Over the weekend I ended up playing poker with a few friends of mine and it got me thinking of an example of the romantic I once saw in a movie. The movie was 21, a story about a college kid in need of money who joins a card counting team and goes to Vegas to take casinos for millions of dollars in winnings. The scene I was thinking of was where the main character, Ben, is playing a “game show” in class. Ben is asked to pick one of three doors behind which there is one car and two goats. After Ben’s initial guess the host reveals one of the other doors which is a goat. Now Ben is asked if he would like to switch his doors. Here is the romantic part. Ben does decide to switch the doors as it puts him in a better probabilistic chance of winning the car. This is an example of a problem entitled the Monty Hall problem.

In this example, Ben actually displays the anti-romantic. Here Ben uses probability, which is the reasoning or facts, over his feelings and emotions. In the video I attached here also is included a clip from Numb3rs, a TV series, that explains the reasoning behind switching better. At the end however, in the 21 clip, the professor explains how out of “paranoia, fear, emotions” most people wouldn’t take the switch. There is the romantic part. Most people wouldn’t take the switch due to their emotions, choosing their emotions over reasoning.

In both of these two clips, they try to convince and influence the position you are in into being the anti-romantic. They explain how most people would be the romantic, not taking the switch due to their fear and emotions, when in reality it is in your best interest to be the anti-romantic, due to simple probability and reasoning. Being the anti-romantic in this example would win you a BRAND NEW CAR!!