Discrete Scenarios
In gambling and probability theory, there is usually a discrete set of possible outcomes. In this case, expected return is a measure of the relative balance of win or loss weighted by their chances of occurring.
For example, if a fair die is thrown and numbers 1 and 2 win $1, but 3-6 lose $0.5, then the expected gain per throw is
- E(R) = 1/3 × 1 - 2/3 × 0.5 = 0 .
Read more about this topic: Expected Return
Famous quotes containing the words discrete and/or scenarios:
“The mastery of one’s phonemes may be compared to the violinist’s mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of tones, but the musician learns the discrete intervals at which to stop the string in order to play the conventional notes. We sound our phonemes like poor violinists, approximating each time to a fancied norm, and we receive our neighbor’s renderings indulgently, mentally rectifying the more glaring inaccuracies.”
—W.V. Quine (b. 1908)
“The taste for worst-case scenarios reflects the need to master fear of what is felt to be uncontrollable. It also expresses an imaginative complicity with disaster.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)