Marilyn Underestimates the Unlisted Phone Numbers

Marilyn is Wrong Copyright © 1998 Herb Weiner. All rights reserved.

Ask Marilyn ® by Marilyn vos Savant is a column in Parade Magazine, published by PARADE, 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA. According to Parade, Marilyn vos Savant is listed in the "Guinness Book of World Records Hall of Fame" for "Highest IQ."

In Marilyn's Parade Magazine column of November 1, 1998, she "hopes" that none of 100 people selected randomly from a phone directory have unlisted phone numbers.

You were tricked, Marilyn

Mechard <Mechard@aol.com> noticed that Marilyn was tricked. Although it may seem obvious that nobody listed in the phone directory has an unlisted phone number, even a brand new phone directory is several months out of date. Certainly, some of the people in the directory have switched to unlisted phone numbers since the data was collected. Without further investigation, it would be impossible to answer the original question. Furthermore, some people listed in the directory may have an unlisted phone number in addition to their listed number.
http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/unlisted.html last updated November 10, 1998 by herbw@wiskit.com