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From: glass@mrbig.rockwell.com (Jim Glass)
Subject: Re: Freedom = Determinism = Random
Message-ID: <1996Feb7.151225.2667@nb.rockwell.com>
Sender: glass@mrbig (Jim Glass)
Organization: Rockwell Info Sys
References: <4ean0d$q64@news.cc.ucf.edu> <4ectun$lkq@newsbf02.news.aol.com> <4edl00$d1o@ccshst05.cs.uoguelph.ca> <4eev9a$3gs@news.cc.ucf.edu> <jqbDM0Gon.B0J@netcom.com> <4f8cb4$2l5@beyond.escape.com>
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Date: Wed, 7 Feb 1996 15:12:25 GMT
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In article <4f8cb4$2l5@beyond.escape.com>, chope@escape.com (Charles Hope) writes:
|> Jim Balter (jqb@netcom.com) wrote:
|> 
|> : Unpredictability is *not* the same as randomness.  Weather patterns are
|> : unpredictable, but they are not *random*.  "Random" means lacking in
|> : aim, direction, or order.
|> 
|> We're going around in ellipses here.
|> 
|> Random and Unpredictable are subjective terms observers apply to systems 
|> whose future states they have trouble predicting. The pattern  of lights 
|> on a digital clock is random and unpredictable until the observer learns 
|> how to predict the progression. Then the observer will claim the sequence 
|> is not random.
|> 
|> : -- 
|> : <J Q B>
|> 
|> Charles

I think not.  Randomness can be rigorously defined; see my previous posting.

Randomness is -NOT- a subjective interpretation as is "unpredictability".
There is an information-science meaning to randomness that is quite non-
subjective.

Jim Glass
