Monday, June 11, 2012

Apologies for any randomness you encounter

What is random?

“I have no idea. I'm trying to figure this out while I'm playing my mp3, which is probably pseudorandom”

Every decision we make, we make for a reason. If we have a choice, we are still biased to choose one of the options. The human mind is incapable of making a random choice. Arbitrary is not a problem, unpredictable perhaps, but certainly not random. Even the result of a coin toss depends on the specific technique of the person tossing it, on which side was on top in the beginning. This you can try for yourself – always put tails on top and see how the result goes biased, it doesn’t remain a 50/50 chance. Sure, this bias can be reduced by alternating between heads and tails, but deciding according to an even number of tosses should result in a standstill.

Computer engineers keep trying to create algorithms for random numbers generators, and they claim they have met success. I refuse to believe that they have found an algorithm, a rule, that defines randomness. These number generators generally rely on using the timestamp of the current moment as a source group of numbers. Since a moment is extremely tiny and never repeats, it is quite a good start. But once the moment is known, the number becomes deductible. And a deductible number is hardly random in my very humble opinion.

 

So, if every single choice is biased, what is random choice?

2 comments:

  1. Stephane: P. S. R. Parallel Synchronized Randomness. An interesting brain rarity and our subject for today. Two people walk in opposite directions at the same time and then they make the same decision at the same time. Then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it. Basically, in a mathematical world these two little guys will stay looped for the end of time. The brain is the most complex thing in the universe and it's right behind the nose.

    Stephane: Fascinating!

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    1. "Random number generation is too important to leave it to chance."

      It is also interesting to note that a blindfolded person cannot walk in a straight line, as he/she tries, he/she starts to go in a curve. Thus, with enough vacant space (that has no tree stumps or other obstacles), the person will arrive back where he/she started walking from. It is yet another kink of brains, just something that makes us... us.

      P.S.R. appears to have taken its inspiration from the age-old belief that every person is looking for his/her 'other half' or 'soul mate'. It is often assumed that soul mates are extremely similar in their thinking, which is why they get along with each other so well. Sure, there are slight differences that causes the two people to complement each other (think of the sleazy line 'you complete me'), but the thoughts have to be relatively synchronized. Similar minds bring similar ideas, meaning it is not that much up to fate to bring these people together, but to probability. People who are wired the same way tend to group. After all, it is why parties exist, why The Royal Society was founded, why people hold ethnicity in such high regard. Because some minds are significantly more similar to some brains than others. People with similar backgrounds tend to have more similarities in the way they act and what their values are.

      We cannot create anything truly random because by the mere act of creating it, we create bias within it.

      PS: love to see you commenting here again. I was afraid I'd lost you already.

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