Logic in a sequence
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Vicious cycles are always fascinating. Understanding the detailed logic and figuring out the right point of attack for breaking a loop is always a joy. Till you get a hang of the logic, the sequence is like a decimal representation of an irrational number (non-periodic, non-terminating); equipped with the logic you see one form of the decimal representation of a rational number (periodic, non-terminating) and there's a certain thrill in that.
One loop which I've been trying to figure out on-and-off for the past few days is my disc-man's random-play option which I'm sure is not random. For the kind of chip it uses, perfect random-play is impossible. I read the algorithms for generation of random numbers in old russian computers when fiddling with monte carlo simulation from Sobol and have a rough idea of how the random generation works in the memory, and I'm sure my disc-man hasn't any of that complexity.
The current status is that I have a few sequences; for instance for my test CD, for any of the first few songs, I can give you the entire sequence of songs that's going to play (given a starting song, I can tell you the interval after which a certain sequence will repeat). Yet I haven't yet been been able to figure out the generalised functions ... :-(
Digressing a little form the main theme, in the current status, I'm in a position to evoke the awe of a visitor to my room after a small demo, especially when I add a 'mumbo-jumbo' function during the demo. This status is like the status of many of our rituals; they yield the results, but with loss of understanding of the logic over the years, they appear random to its 'current advocates' who only see the sequence and have to take recourse in the power of authority or superstition or superficial-and-fallacious to ensure adherence.
Nah, don't worry, I don't intend joining that 'current advocates' pack and won't trick you with that demo :-).
Vicious cycles are always fascinating. Understanding the detailed logic and figuring out the right point of attack for breaking a loop is always a joy. Till you get a hang of the logic, the sequence is like a decimal representation of an irrational number (non-periodic, non-terminating); equipped with the logic you see one form of the decimal representation of a rational number (periodic, non-terminating) and there's a certain thrill in that.
One loop which I've been trying to figure out on-and-off for the past few days is my disc-man's random-play option which I'm sure is not random. For the kind of chip it uses, perfect random-play is impossible. I read the algorithms for generation of random numbers in old russian computers when fiddling with monte carlo simulation from Sobol and have a rough idea of how the random generation works in the memory, and I'm sure my disc-man hasn't any of that complexity.
The current status is that I have a few sequences; for instance for my test CD, for any of the first few songs, I can give you the entire sequence of songs that's going to play (given a starting song, I can tell you the interval after which a certain sequence will repeat). Yet I haven't yet been been able to figure out the generalised functions ... :-(
Digressing a little form the main theme, in the current status, I'm in a position to evoke the awe of a visitor to my room after a small demo, especially when I add a 'mumbo-jumbo' function during the demo. This status is like the status of many of our rituals; they yield the results, but with loss of understanding of the logic over the years, they appear random to its 'current advocates' who only see the sequence and have to take recourse in the power of authority or superstition or superficial-and-fallacious to ensure adherence.
Nah, don't worry, I don't intend joining that 'current advocates' pack and won't trick you with that demo :-).
posted by Ayan Bhattacharya @ 11:15 AM
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