Subj : Re: Global Random Number Generators
To   : warmfuzzy
From : DustCouncil
Date : Sat Aug 19 2023 19:18:06

 wa> There was a project done several years back to see what phenomenon would
 wa> change a random number generator into a non-random data stream. 
 wa> Initially they produced zero useful results.  However, the day of
 wa> September 11th and a few days prior the RND # Gens were spiking
 wa> non-random data.  Something was happening that could be detected

You can read more about this here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Consciousness_Project

The problem with projects like this is the people who are running them (in this case the New-Agey Institute of Noetic Sciences) are really in that "I WANT TO BELIEVE" crowd.  They very much want a specific result.

The concept is fascinating but crosses into the realm of quantum mysticism.

Incidentally, you can buy random number generators on Amazon.com - there is a brand called TrueRNG which can be had for $90-$120 depending on the model and it plugs in via USB.

These can be used to provide true (rather than pseudo-random) randomness for things like generating encryption keys.

I guess I'm in the "I WANT TO BELIEVE" crowd too.  I am fascinated with the concept that the universe has algorithms which can be juked in some way.  It's a very "I am a Freshman in college and stoned out of my gourd" sentiment to say that Pi, for example, is a very strange thing.  That this number at the center of the geometry of the universe is an irrational number (HAIL ERIS!) has always struck me as odd.

Random number generators are like weathervanes, in a way.

And as most people know, your computer can't produce truly random numbers -- this is why key generation has you moving your mouse around, typing, accessing the hard drive, to add true randomness to augment the limitations of binary-based CPUs.

https://blog.cloudflare.com/randomness-101-lavarand-in-production/

Cloudflare has a wall of lava lamps in the lobby of their San Francisco office, that they use to generate randomness.  There's good discussion on that link about how it works, and what the concerns are.

It'd be interesting to get one of these generators, and run a distribution of random values and chart that over time, to see if there are any sudden changes.  

Though I expect if there were, we'd have heard about it, as we have with the Global Consciousness Project.

Our desire to believe in the paranormal, the supernatural, and so forth, continues to exceed all evidence that the universe is purely materialistic, at least by rational/scientific standards.

How boring!

For all that...

....I still check inside wardrobes every time I pass one.

Just in case.

TO CAIR PARAVEL!

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