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The Thought Show: Just How Rare is a Hole-in-One?

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11/01/2018 GMT

Just How Rare is a Hole-in-One?

BBC World Service - The Thought Show, Just How Rare is a Hole-in-One?

How rare is it for golfers to score a hole-in-one? Plus, are people who hear voices sick?

Just how rare is it for golfers to score a hole-in-one? Plus, why do some people hear voices? And how are juvenile prisoners coping with digital technology after release?

There are golfers who could go an entire lifetime without getting a hole-in-one. Recently the BBC reported a pair of amateur players who each scored one - one after the other. It was reported widely that there was a 1 in 17 million chance of this happening. We speak to maths writer, Rob Eastaway, who explains the difficulties of trying to work out the chances.

Why do people hear voices in their head -  like Rachel Waddingham who hears three-year-old Blue, 11-year-old Elfie and a panel of three critical scientists. Around 2% of people claim, like Rachel, to be inhabited by voices with whom they have full blown relationships. Are they all sick? And why have some psychologists changed their minds about the dangers of colluding with the voices?

Social media has become an integral part of modern life  - but what if you have been in jail for the last 30 years? Many recently released so-called juvenile lifers in the US now find themselves grappling with the mysteries of Facebook and Whatsapp, and other aspects of new technology.

(Photo: Man playing golf. Credit: Shutterstock)

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