PROBABILITY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2628 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
The quality or condition of an event more or less likely to happen
This definition shows that probability implies necessarily a criterion of evaluation , i.e. depends on the observer in his/her specific mental, intellectual and even possibly affective or emotional state
However, once the conditions of observation have been clearly defined it becomes possible to introduce a more precise definition of what we mean by probability. As an example, the American Heritage Dictionary, under the sub-heading “Mathematics” defines probability as “a number expressing the likehood of occurrence of a specific event , such as the ratio of the number of experimental results that would produce the event, to the total number of results considered possible”(p. 1043). Still, the use of the word “considered” shows the need for a criterion, normally obtained from a theory or some other frame of reference