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You are here: Home / Markets / Sports and Politics

Sports and Politics

May 18, 2012 by Gary Meisner 2 Comments

Phi is a factor in Sports.

In races, why does the most favored starter win less than half the time?  Why does it not win all the time?  Just what percentage of the time does it win?

We don’t all choose the favorite to win, but what success rate can we expect whatever we choose?  Surely not 100%, but not 0% either.  Is there an percent which would be the value most expected?

According to the work and research of Merv Pittman, mathematics predicts that favorites will win 38.2% of races, with an average of 38.2% of the people actually choosing that starter.  That percentage is both Phi squared and 1 – Phi.

This theory states the percentage of people who choose any starter is a very good indicator of its chances of success, and that the Golden Ratio is also involved in election results and even how often a goal kicker will be successful.

 

1 100
2 62 38
3 50 31 19
4 45 28 17 11
5 42 26 16 10 6
6 40 25 15 10 6 4
7 39 24 15 9 6 4 2
8 39 24 15 9 6 4 2 1
9 39 24 15 9 6 4 2 1 1
10 39 24 15 9 6 4 2 1 1 1
11 38 24 15 9 6 4 2 1 1 1 0
12 38 24 15 9 6 4 2 1 1 1 0 0
13 38 24 15 9 6 4 2 1 1 1 0 0 0
14 38 24 15 9 6 4 2 1 1 1 0 0 0
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th

 

As the number of contenders grow each ranking approaches its limit, a definite number, no matter how large the field becomes. This fact becomes a powerful mathematical tool in predicting outcomes in sporting events or political elections.

Phi may also be a factor in political elections.

Note the percentage of the votes that were given in elections identified by Wikipedia as “landslide” elections in the popular vote of presidential elections, and their closeness to phi at 61.8% and phi squared at 38.2%:

Year Winner Vote Loser Vote
1964 Lyndon Johnson 61.10% Barry Goldwater 38.50%
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt 60.80% Alf Landon 36.50%
1972 Richard Nixon 60.70% George McGovern 37.50%
1920 Warren Harding 60.30% JameM. Cox 34.10%
1984 Ronald Reagan 58.80% Walter Mondale 40.60%
1904 Theodore Roosevelt 56.40% Alton B. Parker 37.60%

 

Filed Under: Markets

Comments

  1. mahmoud agha says

    August 19, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    It’s most strange topic I read before
    But I wish to learn me haw can use this important information in my simple life to success
    Thank you.
    Real friend

    Reply
  2. Rosella says

    August 27, 2018 at 4:32 am

    Wow. Literally amazing. Its its really fascinating to learn that the golden ratio could actually be seen in almost every field.

    Reply

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