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Re:What is randomness? Nobody knows.. by pierrebouchet on Friday April 20, 2012 @11:53AM (#3868415)
I think one of the most widely accepted definitions of randomness in mathematics was given by Martin-Löf.

Basically it says that a process is random iff it doesn't exhibit any atypical property that you can test with an algorithm.

In other words: if there is no computable way of proving that it's not random, then it is random.

Re:What is randomness? Nobody knows.. by jasomill on Friday April 20, 2012 @12:37PM (#3868622)
How does this not trivially exclude everything (the first definition, not the circular restatement)? Considering that, say, a sequence of coin flips either has the property of "beginning with heads" or "beginning with tails," it certainly appears to.
Re:What is randomness? Nobody knows.. by pierrebouchet on Friday April 20, 2012 @01:07PM (#3868766)
My bad, I was being too vague - sorry for that.

I meant "any atypical property" instead of "any property".

An "atypical property" being a property that almost no sequence has, i.e the set of sequences which exhibit this propery is a measure-zero set.

Re:What is randomness? Nobody knows.. by WiseWeasel on Friday April 20, 2012 @12:35PM (#3868608)
In a practical sense, I'd say the definition is simply our inability to recognize a pattern at this point; it's completely subjective.
Re:What is randomness? Nobody knows.. by jasomill on Friday April 20, 2012 @12:39PM (#3868632)
Lehmer (1951), by way of Knuth Vol. 2, "A random sequence is a vague notion embodying the idea of a sequence in which each term is unpredictable to the uninitiated and whose digits pass a certain number of tests, traditional with statisticians and depending somewhat on the uses to which the sequence is to be put."