Parthenon Random

A common complaint about cryptographically random number sequences is that they do not appear satisfactorily random to human perception. No human can predict what comes next, whether true random or pseudorandom. But it does not satisfy human perception for variety.

As the Greeks compensated for the perceived overhang of vertically straight skyscrapers in the architecture of the Parthenon, there exists a way to modify a cryptographically random sequence to satisfy human perception for randomness.

In my “Magic Eight Ball” program “Wizard,” published some time ago on www indenturedgeek dot com slash recreations, I implemented the following procedure very satisfactorily:

As the stream accepts input from the random stream, we collect a filo array of the last four, five or six most recent responses. Before using the random “suggestion,” we reject it, if it is found in the array. We collect the “n” most recent unique responses, and then add each response we syndicate to the end of the array, “popping” the first response when we add it.

I have left open the possibility of more than one array size, to allow for variety in presenting pseudorandom sequences. The procedure is deterministic, but allowing a random array length of three possible lengths would harden the data stream against identification, given a small variety of pseudorandom number generators. (3^pseudo-n)

When considering some variety of ranges, there is actually some possibility of converting pseudorandom to random, when range > array_length + 1, and range mod array_length != 0.

These criteria alone remain stubbornly deterministic when range is known. However, if range is arbitrary, a choice of just two pseudorandom streams are sufficient to obfuscate order, if the algorithm by rule rejected some unknown number of range suggestions on the basis “range mod array_length == 0.”

Each pseudo random stream would exhibit [range x array_length] orders.

I am advancing the premise under the name “Parthenon Random.”