Janus-Faced Randomness

Abstract

The statistician M. Bartlett has introduced a simple step-by-step procedure for generating a random sequence that is so curious it compels us to examine it carefully, since it will bring us to the very core of what makes randomness appear elusive.

“That’s the effect of living backward,” the Queen said kindly: “it always makes one a little giddy at first … but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways.”

“The other messenger’s called Hatta. I must have two, you know—to come and go. One to come and one to go … Don’t tell you?” the King repeated impatiently. “I must have two—to fetch and carry. One to fetch and one to carry.”

Lewis Carrol, Through the Looking Glass