Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Randomness is clumpy


Even so, most of the times, when there is a clump, it's likely causal, not random.


I suggest you go to random.org and play with the coin flipper or dice roller for a couple of hours.

[edit] I just rolled 60 dice and got a string of 7 2’s in a row. Can someone calculate the odds of that happening for me?


Randomness can be clumpy, but clumpiness does not have to be random. Clumpiness is typically causal. Your experiment won't tell you what you need to know.


"repeated number 2 out of 5 on a dice" vs. "repeated brain tumour out of infinite other things that can happen in dynamic system you don't even know all the parts" rly?

run an RNG that doesn't quantize to an integer and see how many repeats you get then:)


Wow this is a profoundly unsettling and truthful fact, thanks for sharing.


it also sneaks in a hideen assumption "cancer is random" in a way that tries to avoid a "citation needed". I hate those sorts of comments, worse than propaganda (at least that one obvious)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: