This is not quite asking people to pick the lowest unique prime number, because it was clear in advance that the prize would go to the individuals who picked the five lowest unique prime numbers, rather than the single individual who picked the lowest. This means that there is an incentive to err on the side of picking a prime number that's too high, rather than a prime number that's too low, which probably skews the distribution.
It's not just as bad; it gives a closer to accurate picture, and it's pretty obnoxious of the mods to change it to be less illuminating. The way it's written now, I thought it was going to be about asking people a nonsensical mathematical question (which still has a correct answer), and seeing how the nonsensical curve-ball affects their answer.
Agreed. When I read the title, I thought, "WTH, what's so hard about picking the number 2? Is this article about how few people know this fact or something?"
Your strategy isn't to pick the lowest prime. It's to pick a prime that less than 5 other people would pick lower than - so you will tend to pick a higher number. The larger the group of pickers the higher you should pick.
