4 ms·
"Distance of next prime" is not random, it's entirely deterministic. It's a well-defined function. Just because we don't have an analytical solution for it does
by ef4 12y ago
"Distance of next prime" is not random, it's entirely deterministic. It's a well-defined function. Just because we don't have an analytical solution for it doesn't make it random.
As for "high quality", some random variables are less predictable than others. A weighted coin that comes up heads 51% of the time is still random (not deterministic), but more predictable than a fair coin.
- avoid3d 12y agoI don't like calling non-uniform distributions 'predictable'. Think of it like this: A coin which produces heads 99/100 times is not predictable, since you cannot predict when the next tails is coming, you just know that they are rarer. As for the distance to the next prime thing, you are just plain wrong, in a sense that he is talking about a seeded pnrg, i.e the starting prime is a seed and you don't get to know which it is, out of all integers...
- ef4 12y ago> in a sense that he is talking about a seeded pnrg That little "p" makes all the difference. The post I was replying to was asking about the precise definition of "random", not "pseudorandom". As you allude to, any real randomness in such a scheme needs to come in the form of a seed.