Knerrpool wrote:l.strether wrote:As to that quote, it isn't my exact one, and you're presenting it as such isn't cool.
What do you mean it isn't your exact quote? The full sentence was: "So a repetition--like a repeated 6--is no less of a likely result than 6, 2, 5, 4....or some other non repeating string of results".
That sentence can be broken into two separate phrases:
1) "So a repetition--like a repeated 6--is no less of a likely result than 6, 2, 5, 4...."
This is a correct statement. I don't have an issue with this.
2) "So a repetition--like a repeated 6--is no less of a likely result than... some other non repeating string of results."
This is NOT a correct statement.
The second phrase would have been clearer if the word "specific" (after "other") had been inserted. However, I think this is implied since it is tied to the first phrase. I have gone at it with l.strether in the past, but I think he is making a valid point here. For example, all of the following strings have the exact same chance to come up:
6, 6, 6, 6
6, 2, 5, 4
1, 2, 3, 4
3, 1, 4, 1
2, 3, 2, 5
There are 1296 possible combinations, and the odds of any
one of the above strings occurring is 1/1296. Out of the 1296 combinations, there are only six where you have four repeating numbers. That's why it looks odd when it happens, but it doesn't mean there is a glitch with SOM's random number generator.