posted 02-29-2024
How random are you? A demonstration of human deficit in generating truly random sequences is shown here by a simple guessing game. You generate a random sequence by key or button presses and the computer tries to predict your choices. The computer remembers and keeps a count of your choices for n-length runs. It guesses the larger of the two choices deteministically or if they are equal chooses randomly. A truly random sequence is memoryless and so the computer win rate should asymptotically converge to 50% for a random sequence.
Computer Win Rate:
This is the length of the guesses the computer remembers. You can change it to see how it affects your win rate (resets game)
Larger values require more player data points before the computer can make predictions from your history.
With perfect knowledge of your history you should be able to keep the win rate below 50%.
Demonstrations of this sort are mentioned in Quantum Computing Since Democritus by Scott Aaronson and in Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws by Manfred Schroeder.