Re: Random?
- From: Carlos Moreno <moreno_at_mochima_dot_com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 02 Apr 2006 18:34:02 -0400
Starbles@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
251740482158
Is this a random 12 digit number or not? :P
It is not. It is written in a publicly available source;
it is *known*, which absolutely and unconditionally negates
the possibility of it being random.
As for whether or not that number was generated by a random
process, there is no valid answer to that -- the following
number: 1234567890 *could* be the outcome of a truly random
source. There simply is no way to turn your question into
a meaningful one. Not even when you explain what you meant
by "is this a random number" -- any *given* number can be
both the output of a random generator, or be an arbitrarily
chosen number that follows a certain pattern (and there is
always some pattern for any given number)
It's not random. Want to know how I made it?
No need to -- we already knew that it was not random, for reasons
that have absolutely nothing to do with what you say below.
day about the digits of pi... then inspiration struck. What if the
digits of pi weren't COMPLETELY random
The digits of pi *are not* completely random -- they're not even
partially random (if such distinction was valid, which is not).
The digits of pi are considered *randomish* in that they exhibit
no obviou8s pattern and are (as far as I know) more or less
uniformly distributed. But they are *not* random.
My number is made up of the transformation 0->011 1->10, then changed
from binary to decimal. Did you see it? I bet some of you did, and the
rest of you didn't have the lateral thinking skills. Of course, that's
just my humble opinion. :P
Humble and deeply mistaken opinion -- our lateral thinking skills
may be within the top 0.0001% of the world's population, and still
would not have guessed the transformation -- simply because your
question did not trigger any interest in coming up with the
sequence.
Now, answer the following question by your own definitions: Is
the following number random:
3564996254
No matter what you answer, you will be proven wrong -- if you
detect any pattern, I'll say that I madly slapped at the digits
on my keyboard; and *really*, no matter what beautiful pattern
your fantabulous lateral thinking skills may find, you will not
be able to tell me that I did not get the number by slapping at
my keyboard (which BTW, was indeed the case).
And if you answer that the number is definitely random, then
I'll surely find some pattern -- worst-case scenario, I'll
determine the 4th-order polynomial P(x) for which P(0) = 35,
P(1) = 64, etc., and then will go mocking everyone's lack
of lateral thinking skills.
Anyway, how much research has been done on the number pi? [...]
You could try a Google search with "number pi" keywords; you
want really good "lateral thinking" skills? Check the method
to remember the first XXX digits of pi (the "phantasmagoria")
in http://soundnumbers.com/25.htm
Carlos
--
.
- References:
- Random?
- From: Starbles
- Random?
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