Random numbers
Mallory Ham (mallory@ucla.edu)
Tue, 21 Nov 95 22:49:11 -0800
I think the last comment Myron made about the definition was important.
As in most communication by language, the definition we give a word makes
all the difference. The Random House Unabridged dictionary gives a
statistical definition for "random" that reads: of or characterizing a
process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal
probability of being chosen. John also mentioned this in his comment.
Using the Random House definition, (seems appropriate for this word) I
would say that the numbers generated by a random number generator would
qualify as random. I would assume that the computer algorithms are
tested many times (very high "n") before they qualify as a random number
generator. I agree with John that drawing from a deck of cards would
also qualify as a random number generator.
That's my 5 cents worth on this topic.
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