Re: Randomness...

[Steve Johnson <***>]

I would also relate randomness to information in the
rosennean sense. If something is random it carries new
information with respect to the knower/subject - it
could not be derived from his existing models. For
example, digits of Pi are random - they have no
statistical pattern no matter how far you look or how
long you wait. However, they are only truly random
(carry new information for the subject) until he has a
proper model of what Pi is. After that all these new
digits stop carrying new information as the subject
knows he can always compute them as far as needed
based on the proper model.

Thus it is not only a matter of collecting observables
for a longer period of time until you can see the
"pattern"  . It is often a matter of changing your
level of discourse or abstraction. In this we pass
from trying to study Pi as a decimal fraction to
studying it as an expression of a geometric
relationship. 

Thus I would say randomness is a contextual property
expressing the fact whether the observer has a good
model of the phenomenon being observed. 

- Steve
 


--- Judith Rosen <***> wrote:

> It occurs to me that perhaps an analysis of what
> "randomness" means 
> would be a useful exercise. The words "random" and
> "nonsequitur" have 
> semantic properties in common. Both describe
> something specific to 
> human perception. I've often thought that the human
> mind is, among 
> other things, a pattern-sifter. Some observable that
> does not seem to 
> fit any pattern is an "anomaly" and tends to grab
> our attention. There 
> are reasons why our attention is riveted by "random"
> behavior: It's 
> not "normal". In other words, we recognize that
> patterns are the norm 
> in our perception of the universe. All predators are
> attracted to 
> behavior which deviates from "normal patterns"-- it
> usually means 
> something. (The fact that behavior which deviates
> from "normal" 
> patterns means something is, itself, a pattern.) In
> living things, 
> random behavior is a property of sickness or
> mutation. To a classical 
> physicist, the behavior of living systems seems
> anomalous-- random. It 
> deviates from the perceived norm. My father believed
> that this 
> conclusion was purely an artifact of using too
> limited a set of 
> observables on which to build pattern rules.
> 
> Thus, "randomness" depends on the context. It
> describes a "real" 
> condition, but only within that specific context.
> What appears random, 
> locally, can be part of a larger pattern. Religions
> are built on this 
> phenomenon. The statement"God has a plan" is merely
> the human hope 
> that the local randomness of "meaningless" bad stuff
> that happens in 
> the world is but a part of a much larger, better
> pattern of "good". 
> The notion of "fate" is a recognition that what
> seems random in the 
> short term often shows itself to be part of a larger
> pattern in a 
> longer view. So, it is clear that one of the
> contexts that the quality 
> of "randomness" depends upon is some element of
> TIME.
> 
> Judith
> 
> 



                
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