3 ms·

Could someone explain like I’m 5 how a random process can lead to this sort of outcome?

• Applejinx 4y ago
  There's a discontinuity having to do with how, as an actor in this sort of game, you can only give a dollar to one person at each step of the game, but by random chance ALL the other actors can give their dollar to you. There's also a discontinuity if you leave out the debt part, further aggravating the problem, but the bottom line is if it's random then you can have tons of people giving their dollar to one person for NO reason. And the person with all those dollars still (by the rules of the game) gives one dollar away each step. Pretty sure that's how it arises. Think of it as, the ultrawealthy actor is no different or better than the others, but they 'went viral'.
  • padjo 4y ago
    Thank you, that sort of makes sense to me but is so counterintuitive that I feel I’ll have to do the simulation myself before I believe it!
    • Applejinx 4y ago
      Go ahead. It's a heck of a powerful insight to have, and indeed it is counterintuitive but makes sense once you understand how it works :)
      • padjo 4y ago
        20 lines of JS later and yeah wow of course that’s what happens!
• onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  Random distribution [1] does not equal uniform / even distribution [2]. I don't know how the system handles debt - but it appears to compound & exponentiate the inequality (which is true in reality). [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_distribution https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_distribution [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_uniform_distribution#:~:text=In%20probability%20theory%20and%20statistics,that%20lies%20between%20certain%20bounds https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_uniform_distribut....