jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You can do something that no one has ever done or will ever do. Yes, I realize that statement applies to many things, but I thought this example was interesting. I came across this online today.

"If you ever find yourself feeling hopeless, feeling what you do is futile, feeling you are just a cog in the system, pick up a deck of cards and shuffle it. There! You produced something that was unique in the history of the universe, and chances are it would never be repeated ever. You arranged those cards in a sequence that happened for the first and last time.

Welcome to the power of combinatorics. There are so many ways those 52 cards can be arranged (about 80 unvigintillion ways, roughly, the number 80 followed by 66 zeros) that your feat was a once-in-a-lifetime event. That’s once in the lifetime of the universe (about four billion years)! Chances are no one would ever come up with that sequence in a random shuffling of cards."

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Jerry, I have met a number of people during my lifetime, that were a few cards short of a full deck.

Stephan G

This doesn't explain the house winning every time.

MamaBear17 Loc: Nashville, TN

Playing cards with a friend and he stopped on a shuffle and asked: "Ever wonder if this is the perfect shuffle to win the game.....or is it the next one?"

Stephan G

"Always use the pinky, Luke,"

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Me, too!

Hmmm . . . maybe I’m one of them . . . .

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

Interesting.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

That is truly an amazing way of looking at things. I never did look at my life that way. There was a time approximately 5 years ago, I wanted to do something different and new.
I decided to learn how to fly a plane. I made an appointment and scheduled a class. I though my first lesson was to read a book about five inches thick some 2000 pages. NOPE! The certified flight instructor (CFI) took me out the the plane. He had shown me the fuselage and move the airilons and elevators. He removed the cowl and showed me the engine. This was cool. Then he sat me in the left seat and he in the right seat. All the dials were foreboding. Then he explained every dial. I though that was the end of the lesson. NOPE! He had me radio the tower for takeoff. Then I taxied the plane to the Tarmac. He had me roll the plane down the runway. I asked him when will the plane fly. He told me to look out the window and check the altimeter. HOLY CR@&*P! I'm 50 feet off the ground. When I was 2500 feet in the air we flew around and he informed me more than that could be read in the book. After two hours the CFI had me radio the tower to land. I received my heading and pointed the plane towards a little pencil line. As the line got bigger I was close to the ground. Best of all was the little jerk we felt as we landed on the runway. This was a great rush. Just like when I took my first photograph and had it printed in the high school year book.
Thank you for the great deck of cards analogy. I definitely will consider this at all times.

Happy Shooting!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Same goes for every picture you take, no one will ever take the same!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Even more so if you use a camera with lots of megapixels.

Feiertag Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Are you sure about that? I have seen many moon shots that look like cookie cutters.

clemente21

Here are two that although not exactly the same photo they were pretty darn close.

https://petapixel.com/2018/03/07/two-photographers-unknowingly-shot-millisecond-time/

Dannj

Wow! I’ve got to grab a deck of cards and show this to my wife. For years I’ve been telling her how unique I am. Finally I have proof😊

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

It's interesting to put the two images into PS in layers and align them. You can then turn on and off the top layer and see the difference.

Other than differences in postprocessing, the difference is mostly in perspective. I don't see any difference in the shape of the water plumes but you can tell that they were taken from different spots since the relationship to the lighthouse is slightly different.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Amazing, Jerry! Actually, there are 52! ways. (50 x 49 x 48 x ... x1), probably the number described in the article.
And yet, just as amazing: Given a room filled with 70 people, chosen randomly, it's almost guaranteed that two people will have the same birthday. For 23 people it is a 50% probability(date, not event).

So, as you indicated, just shuffle a deck of cards or go find a small audience. Or, contemplate the number "googolplex", the number named by 1 followed by a googol of zeros. (here's a start - a googol is the number named by 1 followed by a hundred zeroes). So how many zeros are necessary to write the numeral for googolplex?
Mark