Eve makes people better. This sentiment has been echoed by many, in fact, even I, in a drunken stupor, posted an article on another website, not too long ago, about how Eve Online inspired me to take Differential and Integral Calculus. The post was unusually popular, because by all accounts I should not be looking at numbers. I am a middle aged adult nearing retirement with an education in liberal arts who just happens to spend too much time blowing up internet spaceships – I suppose space nerds like to see themselves inspiring others to make the world a more enlightened place. Although I don’t yet see myself as more enlightened, I am continuing down the road of education in mathematics, inspired by Eve Online and it’s community, and this time, dipping into the realm of statistics.

I should have started here, in statistics, because Eve is a game of Statistics. Market Traders use statistics by staring at the Jita price history tab. Hunter Killers (if they are smart) use statistics through zkillboard. Planetary Interaction Foreman use statistics to calculate their monthly hauls. I would bet that Eve’s knuckle dragging Fleet Commanders use some form of subjective probability to make decisions. Even Fintarue, solo pilot and streamer extraordinaire, uses a form of “pirate” probability where the likelihood of him winning an engagement always equals “1”. With all of this practical application of the subject drenched in the game I love, why not learn what “P” means.

So I enrolled in MATH302 in American Public University, again, and unlike the previous Calculus classes, this time I have the advantage; the ability to learn a concept, rule, or theorem, and immediately move over to New Eden to apply the knowledge in a hands on environment.

This weeks lesson, centered around the rules of counting and the rules of probability and with every new lesson comes a mandatory forum post where I have to solve a problem using the knowledge gleaned from the textbook. The required stuffy forum post for this week mentioned something about class rooms and the probability of selecting a random number of boys and girls – but just like Eve – I took that stuffy requirement and played the game – or solved the problem – in my own way. The post is below – if you’ve made it this far, you might as well continue. If you are having trouble reading the text in the pictures, then head on over to imgur.

The professor did not like the post, and, I’m ok with that. So here I go again. A liberal arts major, a podcast host, a Soldier, a duck out of water, in Statistics class. I don’t think I would have the same ability of inculcating the lessons of this class without falling back on the game – or listening to reruns of the Eve Prosper Podcast, but I’m plodding on, getting better. You all inspire me, the game inspires me. Eve makes people better – I may even be able to prove that… if I gather enough data.