Randomness

The concept of randomness is at first glance easy to understand: random values are those generated by chance. However, on closer investigation, the definition above is seen to be circular.

Defining randomness is a hard problem in modern science, mathematics, psychology and philosophy.

Randomness is investigated in a number of fields, including statistics and algorithmic information theory.

Randomness is central to games of chance and vital to the gambling industry.

Random draws are often used to make a decision where no rational or fair basis exists for making a deterministic decision.

Access to a source of high-quality randomness is important in many applications of cryptography.

Deviations from randomness are often regarded by parapsychologists as evidence for the theories of parapsychology.

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