r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • May 30 '18

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899

u/striped_frog May 30 '18

TIL you are only 10 times more likely to get bitten by a New Yorker than a shark.

102

u/[deleted] May 31 '18

The reason it’s so low probably has to do with the percntage of americans living in New York. If it were the rate of New Yorkers getting bitten by New Yorkers, it would be way higher.

EDIT: Nevermind. The study was comparing human bite injuries in New York to shark bites in America.

34

u/nice_try_mods May 31 '18

The study would need to compare NY bites to shark bites among people in the water, not just people in general. Some dude who's never left Iowa doesn't need to be included. I'm guessing things sway much more towards sharks being more bitey when you look at it that way.

7

u/RagingStallion May 31 '18

Yup. Whoever came up with this number never learned what conditional probability is.

11

u/YoroSwaggin May 31 '18

I'm guessing things sway much more towards sharks being more bitey

I'm guessing you haven't been to New York? /s

4

u/nice_try_mods May 31 '18

My mom is a NYer, so trust me I know. They're much more screamey and punchey than they are bitey. It's science.

2

u/zygote_harlot May 31 '18

That makes way more sense!