"Andrew Nowicki" wrote ...

Harold Groot wrote:

HG> So if I fail to chop down a tree with a single swing of an axe, by
HG> your definition I would be an idiot to continue chopping?  Sure, you
HG> can argue that my 2nd and subsequent swings of the axe are not
HG> identical to the first....

If you are making a dent in the trunk, you can estimate
how much time it will take finish the chopping.

I posit that there are people who are sometimes absent minded enough 
to put on only one sock in the morning.  In order to test this I get 
permission to put a camera at ankle height in a ticket machine in an
underground station that has a few thousand people pass through each
day.  After analysing one day's results I have found no one-sock 
wearing people.

Based on these results what is the estimated time until I find a one-sock
wearer?