Rebecca Manzi Marilyn vos Savant, who for years was the smartest person in the world, managed to answer the Monty Hall problem but was not believed because of sexism
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Marilyn vos Savant became famous in the 1980s for having one of the highest IQs in the world. At just 10 years old, her intelligence was that of a 23-year-old adult, and for a period of time, she held the title of the world’s smartest person in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Despite her remarkable intellect, vos Savant always maintained that measuring intelligence is complex and that IQ does not represent the full range of a person’s cognitive abilities. However, in 1990, her fame peaked when she answered a question that would become one of the most debated in the history of mathematics and logic. The question concerned the famous Monty Hall problem, a paradox related to probability.
Marilyn vos Savant’s answer
On the television show Let’s Make a Deal, hosted by Monty Hall, a contestant had to choose between three doors. Behind one door was a car, and behind the other two were goats. After the contestant made a choice, the host would open one of the other doors, always revealing a goat, and ask the contestant if they wanted to switch their choice. The question was: is it better to switch doors?
Vos Savant’s answer sparked significant controversy. She explained that switching doors actually increases the chances of winning. Initially, the probability of choosing the car is only 33% (1 in 3), but once one of the doors with a goat is opened, the chances of winning if the contestant switches increase to 66%. The reasoning behind this is that the host knows where the car is, so the probability of winning doubles if the contestant changes their initial choice.
“yes, you should switch. the first door offers a 1/3 chance of winning, but the second offers a 2/3 chance” vos Savant explained. To make the situation even clearer, she used an example involving millions of doors: if a person had to choose among a million doors, it would be obvious that the winning choice is the one with the greater probability, which is the remaining door after the others are opened.
The sexism controversy
Despite the backlash, vos Savant continued to defend her answer, explaining that cognitive dissonance often makes it hard for people to accept the logic of the problem. However, many of the letters of criticism contained another element: sexism.
Some readers simply couldn’t believe that a woman could solve such a complex problem, and this only fueled her determination to keep explaining the paradox. In the end, vos Savant succeeded in convincing a significant portion of the public, and today the Monty Hall problem is not only known in the world of mathematics but has also entered popular culture, frequently referenced in books, films, and articles.
