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Darren New wrote:
> Mueen Nawaz wrote:
>> What's a "truly random" sequence?
>
> This is a well-defined concept. It means that (basically) the
> probability of you being able to predict the next item in the sequence
> is unchanged by any knowledge you might have.
OK. Not how I was interpreting it...
>> (And be careful when you say Normal. The distribution called "normal"
>> in probability is the Gaussian distribution, which I think is not what
>> you meant).
>
> I meant what are called "normal numbers" in math, not normal statistical
> distributions. Check wikipedia.
I know - just thought I'd point out it could be confusing.
Anyway, your original assertion was that a truly random sequence is
necessarily a normal sequence. That doesn't match up with your
definition of normal.
If I have a sequence derived from a Gaussian distribution, then it is
truly random by the way you defined it. Given the whole sequence, up to
a point, it doesn't tell me anything about what the next element could
be (other than what is obvious - that it follows a Gaussian
distribution). However, for this sequence "every block of a particular
length occurs with equal probability" does not hold.
--
"Now we all know map companies hire guys who specialize in making map
folding a physical impossibility" - Adult Kevin Arnold in "Wonder Years"
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawaz org<<<<<<
anl
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