Randomness
Our very brains revolt at the idea of randomness. We have evolved as a species to become exquisite pattern-finders; long before the advent of science, we figured out that a salmon-colored sky heralds a dangerous storm or that a baby’s flushed face likely means a difficult night ahead. Our minds auto...
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| Published in | The Best Writing on Mathematics 2013 Vol. 4; pp. 52 - 55 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Book Chapter |
| Language | English |
| Published |
United States
Princeton University Press
19.01.2014
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Abstract | Our very brains revolt at the idea of randomness. We have evolved as a species to become exquisite pattern-finders; long before the advent of science, we figured out that a salmon-colored sky heralds a dangerous storm or that a baby’s flushed face likely means a difficult night ahead. Our minds automatically try to place data in a framework that allows us to make sense of our observations and use them to understand and predict events.
Randomness is so difficult to grasp because it works against our pattern-finding instincts. It tells us that sometimes there is no pattern to be found. |
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| AbstractList | Our very brains revolt at the idea of randomness. We have evolved as a species to become exquisite pattern-finders; long before the advent of science, we figured out that a salmon-colored sky heralds a dangerous storm or that a baby’s flushed face likely means a difficult night ahead. Our minds automatically try to place data in a framework that allows us to make sense of our observations and use them to understand and predict events.
Randomness is so difficult to grasp because it works against our pattern-finding instincts. It tells us that sometimes there is no pattern to be found. |
| Author | Charles Seife |
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| Copyright | 2014 Princeton University Press 2015 Princeton University Press, Princeton |
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| Snippet | Our very brains revolt at the idea of randomness. We have evolved as a species to become exquisite pattern-finders; long before the advent of science, we... |
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| StartPage | 52 |
| SubjectTerms | Applied mathematics Applied statistics Inferential statistics MATHEMATICS Popular science Probability theory Pure mathematics Random events Randomness Statistics |
| Title | Randomness |
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