Statistical Independence
Events and are defined to be statistically independent if:
- .
That is, the occurrence of does not affect the probability of, and vice versa. Although the derived forms may seem more intuitive, they are not the preferred definition as the conditional probabilities may be undefined if or are 0, and the preferred definition is symmetrical in and .
Read more about this topic: Conditional Probability
Famous quotes containing the word independence:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)