Is it possible?

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Knife

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Mar 20, 2011
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Giest4life said:
Vrach said:
Erm. Computers don't generate random integers. They use a formula that gives pseudo-random numbers.
I think there are websites that generate "pure" numbers. Like this one [http://www.random.org/].
Nope, your standard computers are incapable of "pure" random numbers. What they do is an aproximation that give all numbers within a certain range an "equal" probability to appear.
That site uses measurement of the real world to generate numbers (which are not random, its like going over to the thermometer every day and calling the results random).
Quantum computers on the other hand may be able to generate truly random numbers thanks to using truly random physical phenomenon (or at least what physicists assume to be random, it is entirely possible that even those aren't truly random and we simply do not yet have the knowledge to understand how those phenomenons work).
I'd say humans aren't that different from computers in that sense, they can generate more or less random numbers in the sense that you can't anticipate which number is next. But nothing truly random.
 

ShindoL Shill

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Jul 11, 2011
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bacon.
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duck.
hello.
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900-and-something

thats literally what went through my head.
 

AnarchistFish

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Jul 25, 2011
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Someone's probably already said this but most "random" numbers that computers come up with are achieved through complex mathematical formulas, sometimes involving the exact time when it's used. Random.org is the closest you can get to random but even that isn't completely random because it still bases the numbers on something else.
 

McMullen

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I doubt it. Humans are hardwired, mostly for threat detection purposes, to recognize and utilize patterns even when there are none.

As for computers, they can't produce randomness. There are natural phenomena that either are truly random or approximate it beyond our ability to measure, and people who really need randomness will get it from these sources.
 

Viral_Lola

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Jul 13, 2009
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I don't know but I once bought a book of random numbers from Amazon. It was a rip off of course. The numbers weren't really random. In fact, at the bottom of the page, in the corners, there was a number that followed sequentially and incrementally the number on the page before it. It was rather upsetting.
 

crudus

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Giest4life said:
You know how we use computers to generate pure, random integers, well, can humans do that?
No they don't. They are pseudo-random. Computers use formulas to generate their numbers. Sometimes if you run one enough times you will find it weighted toward one side. Humans could generate random numbers, but if they have parameters humans also tend to favor a pattern or one side of the bound.