tebop opened this issue on Sep 26, 2008 · 21 posts
ockham posted Mon, 29 September 2008 at 11:21 AM
Random numbers certainly can't be picked by humans, because our sense of
what's random doesn't agree with the strict definition. When you're
randomly picking from a small number of choices (eg Win and Lose)
you'll get long strings of one or the other. Humans perceive this as a
meaningful "winning streak" or "losing streak". We only feel a
sequence as random if it's fairly close to a periodic alternation.
(One for you, one for me....)
The mathematical method used by computers is not true random because
it's actually a repeating sequence. If you wait long enough, the whole thing
will come around again. Good random formulas give VERY long sequences,
so that you aren't likely to catch the rerun in your lifetime.
But the hissing of the radio, or the hissing produced by a Zener diode
(which is often used in "specialist hardware") is definitely true
randomness. It will never come full circle and repeat the total pattern,
though you will find small segments of repetition. (streaks again)