I want to know what happens when you are asked to pick a random number. How does the brain work that out?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP-Ipsat90c
TLDW: We don't pick numbers at random. At all. We're so bad at it that you can make money off this fact.
—
Q: What is the most random number between one and 20? A: 17
Q: Why do you say that? A: Because it is impossible to know for sure which number will come up when you roll a die or draw a card from a deck.
Q: So why did you pick 17? A: It is just as likely as any other number to come up.
Q: But I specifically asked for the most random number. What is the most random number? A: There is no such thing as the most random number.
Q: Then why did you say 17? A: Because it is as random as any other number.
Q: OK then, what is the least random number between one and 20? A: 1
But come to think of it, is there any AI which has "opinions"? Wouldn't that take AI closer to human intelligence?
If you dig any further than this into the question, you quickly get back to the age-old question of "when is it 'real' consciousness and not just an automaton that acts and sounds conscious?"
When we say somebody has an "opinion" we often mean they have some hidden agenda why they raise their "opinion". It is not a fact but opinion. It is frequently about what should be done, and to whom, and thus is most often self-serving.
Humans are intention driven creatures which continuously try to advance their own agendas. So I wonder are there AIs which would exhibit similar behavior, trying to influence the behavior of others with their "opinions". AAnd do we need such AIs? Are they not evil?
But that was a long time ago, and I wonder if the common knowledge that '7' is the most popular would sway people to avoid it. I know I do. I should re-run this.
In any case, it's clear that 7 is the most random digit, right? The other digits are either even or otherwise "nice". 7 is chaotic and unpredictable. 7 sells loose cigarettes to middle school kids. 7 will leave the shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot. Of all the digits in [1-10], it's 7 who'll more likely than not be the one who left the bathroom stall without flushing.
But one Wednesday each month, we had a massive lunch order for a local school. Hundreds of individually-boxed slices, delivered just before 11:30. The slice box was sized for a 1/7 slice of our extra large pizza. We had to use a "wagon wheel" type slicer for those. It was a huge stainless thing that must've cost a fortune.
I always wondered why it was 7 slices and not 6 or 8. The best theory I could come up with was that these slices all had to be the exact same size; no variance from sloppy cutting. And the only way to ensure that would be to specify it as an odd number to make it impractical for the normal cutter.
:-)
Also:
why was six afraid of seven? because seven ate nine
You feel like 1 - 5 are very familiar to you. You've known those numbers the most out of all of them. So you'd rather pick 5-10 which seem more spontaneous and mysterious. Your balance mechanism kicks in and you want to choose something that is in the middle. You choose seven because 7.5 is the actual middle and hey, there's a 7 in that number so let's do that.
One, seven, three, four, six, seven, three, two, one, four, seven, six, Charlie, three, two, seven, eight, nine, seven, seven, seven, six, four, three, Tango, seven, three, two, Victor, seven, three, one, one, seven, eight, eight, eight, seven, three, two, four, seven, six, seven, eight, nine, seven, six, four, three, seven, six. Lock.