Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Condorman
however, the head-to-tail ratio should be about 1-to-1.

But this is not the issue when deciding whether chance events can result in complexity. You could make a character count of a computer program and list the relative frequencies of the characters, but that would tell you nothing about the nature of the program or its operation. It is the sequence that matters.

the other thing that needs to be considered is selection. Nature, for whatever reasons, favors certain sequences. It is as if a dice player could always keep his winnings and always rule losing tosses "invalid".

the "whatever reasons" part is not arbitrary, but is the subject of study.

123 posted on 11/01/2002 7:33:36 AM PST by js1138
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies ]


To: js1138
the other thing that needs to be considered is selection. Nature, for whatever reasons, favors certain sequences. It is as if a dice player could always keep his winnings and always rule losing tosses "invalid".

I agree. Which is why I prefer Yahtzee to craps. My comments were directed towards the claim that rolling 54 thousand consecutive sevens with a pair of fair dice is consistent with craps. While it is true that a game of craps will often see dice rolls totalling seven, craps is also built around the probability of such an event occurring. While such a sequence is not outside the realm of possibility, is it well beyond the bounds of probability.

124 posted on 11/01/2002 9:18:50 AM PST by Condorman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson