RE: [PHP] Generating Random Numbers with Normal Distribution

At 10:15 AM -0500 12/12/07, Robert Cummings wrote:

On Wed, 2007-12-12 at 09:00 -0500, tedd wrote: There is simply order and randomness existing in our minds. There is

no order, nor randomness, existing in nature, it's our perception, clarification, and categorization of nature that demands attributes be assigned to artificial groupings of identity threshold exceeding objects. In other words, we decide on what IT is and then assign order to IT.

Your statement is contradictory. If there is no randomness in nature then there is no randomness in our minds since we are inherently a part of nature-- yes even when we leave plastic lying around everywhere. We aren't the only creatures in nature to make toxic messes (there's a reason that you can't gain a higher alcohol concentration than about 18% through the fermentation process). Cheers, Rob.

Just because we come from nature, does not mean that our perception of randomness and order is forced upon Nature -- Nature is what Nature does. Our minds are not complete (some less than others) and we do not have everything solved. It is part of our survival mechanism to understand the world around us and we are continually adding to our collective knowledge -- it's the great equalizer between us and other critters. We've developed a system for observation and it's that system that is problematic in trying to determine and apply artificial terms for order and randomness. Granted it's a pretty good system, better than any other critters, but certainly not flawless. I can look out over the Mojave desert and see tumbleweeds growing in cubic-closest packing (as I've done). I can reason and postulate why they grow that way, but the tumbleweeds don't give a hoot -- they just grow that way. Just because we think, does not prove randomness, nor order, in nature -- it only proves that we think about it. As for plastic -- either Mother Nature will deal with plastic or we'll add another rock-type to the stratigraphic record. Cheers, tedd -- ------- http://sperling.com http://ancientstones.com http://earthstones.com