
25 is ‘golden age’ for the ability to make random choices - manojr
http://exactlyscience.com/archives/11998.html
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benjohnson
I'm 43 - now that I know that the ability to create random numbers could be an
indication of having a heathy or youthful brain, I know have enough knowledge
to fake this test.

If I'm ever asked to provide a string of random numbers by a cognitive
scientist or a doctor, I'll be certain to do my best and then apply external
randomness to my individual guesses.

For example, I'll take the last phrase the scientist says to me - "please give
me list of five random numbers from one to 10 ", and I'll apply the number of
letters in each word of the sentence to each of my individual numbers and then
modulo the answer to fit the range.

That way, with my old-age-cleverness, I'll hopefully be able to simulate a 25
year old.

~~~
dogecoinbase
Old age and cunning will always beat youth and bravery.

~~~
ge96
youth and stupidity haha

~~~
fosco
You can never be old and wise if you are not young and stupid

~~~
ge96
I was just thinking many have written their life time experiences, all I have
to do is pick up the book and read then I'll be wise as well right? Seems it's
cyclical the pattern why can't I skip the stupid mistakes. Parents try to tell
you not to make the mistakes they made but inevitably you make the mistakes as
well. Well I'm speaking for myself anyway. Oh well.

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joelg
Reminds me of the Aaronson Oracle:
[http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~nick/aaronson-
oracle/](http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~nick/aaronson-oracle/)

It's a simple algorithm to predict human-generated coin flips by exploiting
our aversion to extremes.

~~~
pmalynin
55%, take that computer overlords.

~~~
pvitz
Try it again with closed eyes. That worked for me to move the number to 50%
and lower.

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libeclipse
Here's a cached version:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://exactlyscience.com/archives/11998.html)

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dmichulke
Aren't "look random to somebody else" and "be random" two totally different
things?

How can they tell that 1234561234 is not the result of a 10 x random dice
roll?

What's the probability of a real RNG being considered better/worse than a 25
year old?

Related Dilbert:

[http://dilbert.com/strip/2001-10-25](http://dilbert.com/strip/2001-10-25)

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huangc10
When I was 25, I made the choice to quit my job as a hw engineer and travel
the world. After a year, I decided to do sw instead. Haven't looked back
since.

It wasn't exactly a random decision, but I remember the question was as simple
as, "Should I just do it...?"

~~~
rootsudo
Same, 25, quit job with MSFT, in Asia now.

~~~
huangc10
Do you mind sharing why you did it and what you're up to now in Asia?

Mainly mine was, my true passions was in SW and I felt that I couldn't make a
big enough impact through HW.

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ram_rar
This makes an assumption that you are not living in poverty. More than age, I
personally feel the need to have a sufficient bank balance, which can make you
financially independent and empower you to do whatever the fuck you want!

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synicalx
About to hit 25 here, should I be worried or should I just start playing
roulette more often?

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woliveirajr
I wish there was a online test from this article.

~~~
e_gal
There is, but you would need to do some job and compare your results with
those of the paper. Here it is:
[http://complexitycalculator.com/](http://complexitycalculator.com/) At least
for the binary sequence and the random grid tests it would give you your
results.

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perfmode
This explains my brownian motion.

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bec123
DoS'd :-(

