IIRC, there exist minimax strategies in some games that are stochastic. There are some games in which it is in fact best to fight randomness with randomness.
Indeed… So does this count as weak evidence that our brains are built to outmaneuver other thinking creatures rather than purely random environmental phenomena?
Going into game theory, if an opponent makes a truly random decision between two numbers, and you win if you guess which number they guessed, that would be a time that you should fight randomness with randomness. There aren’t a lot of other situations where randomness should be fought with randomness but in situations similar to that situation that is the right move.
If the other player is choosing randomly between two numbers, you will have a 50% chance of guessing his choice correctly with any strategy whatsoever. It doesn’t matter whether your strategy is random or not; you can choose the first number every time and you will still have exactly a 50% chance of getting it.
But you want to be purely unpredictable or the opponent( if they are a super ai) would gradually figure out your strategy and have a slightly better chance. A human(without tools) can’t actully generate a random number. If your opponent was guessing a non-completely random number/ a “random” number in their head, then you want your choice to be random. I should have said if the opponent chooses a non-completely random number then you should randomly determine your number.
That works for some purposes but it is not truly random so it would be better to use a dice or other more random number if available.
Of course, be realistic with getting random numbers. If the situation calls for a quickly thought decision, that works. If you have dice in your pocket go ahead and pull them out.
IIRC, there exist minimax strategies in some games that are stochastic. There are some games in which it is in fact best to fight randomness with randomness.
Only when the opponent has a brain.
Indeed… So does this count as weak evidence that our brains are built to outmaneuver other thinking creatures rather than purely random environmental phenomena?
Going into game theory, if an opponent makes a truly random decision between two numbers, and you win if you guess which number they guessed, that would be a time that you should fight randomness with randomness. There aren’t a lot of other situations where randomness should be fought with randomness but in situations similar to that situation that is the right move.
If the other player is choosing randomly between two numbers, you will have a 50% chance of guessing his choice correctly with any strategy whatsoever. It doesn’t matter whether your strategy is random or not; you can choose the first number every time and you will still have exactly a 50% chance of getting it.
But you want to be purely unpredictable or the opponent( if they are a super ai) would gradually figure out your strategy and have a slightly better chance. A human(without tools) can’t actully generate a random number. If your opponent was guessing a non-completely random number/ a “random” number in their head, then you want your choice to be random. I should have said if the opponent chooses a non-completely random number then you should randomly determine your number.
You can generate a random number in your head by generating several numbers unreliably and taking the sum mod X.
That works for some purposes but it is not truly random so it would be better to use a dice or other more random number if available. Of course, be realistic with getting random numbers. If the situation calls for a quickly thought decision, that works. If you have dice in your pocket go ahead and pull them out.