Read on Twitter
let me bore y’all with some science for a second…a basic understanding of probability theory would lead you to conclude that all outcomes are equally likely, however this would be incorrect, as it ignores a significant fact…lotto numbers are NOT random in the truest sense https://twitter.com/coruscakhaya/status/1333864672383078406
lotto numbers are picked using a pseudorandom number generator, “an algorithm used to generate a sequence of numbers whose properties approximate the properties of sequences of random numbers”. Now this sequence is NEVER truly random because it is determined by a seed
the seed is a vector of numbers used to initialise the algorithm. Now that makes this seed special is that 1. it need not be random and 2. the same seed, with the same algorithm will ALWAYS produce the same sequence of numbers.
what this means, is that if I have the algorithm, and the entire history of sequences generated, with reasonable accuracy, one could predict the lotto numbers…so no, not all outcomes are equally likely
the seed is one of the main reasons why we are able to conduct repeated and consistent experiments with Monte-Carlo simulations
in fact very few things in life are actually random…an example of a TRULY random process would be radioactive decay, because it is impossible to predict when an individual atom might decay
although somewhat unrelated & not entirely applicable due to the finite set of possibilities, Benford’s law should also raise a red flag here. I might be wrong, but I suspect the algorithm returned the seed used to initialise it…this sequence is just too arbitrarily convenient
while you’re here…
we need more POC and women in STEM
we need more POC and women in STEM
idk if this will be easier to understand, but there you go…and for the love of God please stop asking me how you can win the lotto
