Re:How to pick a random number from 1-10
by bnegreve on Sunday June 30, 2019 @02:09AM
(#20316648)
> the one described has a massive failure mode
Well, if you're really interested in generating random numbers using a group of people, then yes, this may be a problem.
But you should take this as an illustration of the more general problem of generating uniform random numbers from a distribution that is not.
If you think about it this way, author's solution can be applied in a number of practical scenarios. For example, if you want to generate a hash values for objects using properties that are not uniformly distributed. Or if you want to generate random numbers from a physical artifact that is not perfectly uniform.
Well, if you're really interested in generating random numbers using a group of people, then yes, this may be a problem.
But you should take this as an illustration of the more general problem of generating uniform random numbers from a distribution that is not.
If you think about it this way, author's solution can be applied in a number of practical scenarios. For example, if you want to generate a hash values for objects using properties that are not uniformly distributed. Or if you want to generate random numbers from a physical artifact that is not perfectly uniform.