What Assumptions Are Made About the Probabilities of the Optimistic

question 8

Essay

What assumptions are made about the probabilities of the optimistic and pessimistic times in the standard formula for calculating the variance of a particular activity? Explain how the formula can be modified to accommodate different assumptions.

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Definitions:

Burgess Shale

A famous fossil field located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, known for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils from the Cambrian Period.

Cambrian Period

A geologic era approximately 541 million years ago, marked by a rapid increase in the diversity of life and the appearance of most major animal groups.

Evolution

The way in which a range of living beings is believed to have originated and diversified from former types during the chronological history of the earth.

Evolutionary Diversification

The process by which a single ancestral species evolves into a wide variety of descendant species differing in morphology, behavior, and ecological niches.