re: #200 Hecuba’s daughter

AFAIK, all the random number generators out there are actually pseudo random number generators. The programs use complex mathematical formulas to generate a sequence of numbers; if a user gives the routine a starting seed, the numbers produced will always be the same for that seed. There are mathematical tests to see if a sequence appears random and these will all pass those tests, but they aren’t truly random.

The mathematical operations used in some random number generators are exceedingly simple (i.e., add and multiply), and can still provide pseudo-random sequences that will pass statistical tests for randomness. Making the math more complicated has been known to spoil the randomness, so this is definitely not a do-it-yourself part of computer programming.