Randomness

Teenager: I find boys kind of random at times.

Stranger: How so?

Teenager: Well they play these stupid games that are really childish.

Stranger: You mean flirting?

Teenager: Oh, no. Not that at all. You see they do things that make no sense. One day they would be normal, show affection and then next day, would be totally cold and would act like jerks. It is this unpredictability that drives me crazy.

Stranger: Unpredictability and randomness are not necessarily the same things.

Teenager: Sure they are. If I can't figure out what or why something is, to me it is basically random. Most of my friends have pretty predictable behavior, so I would not call them random. Boys on the other hand...

Stranger: So to you, things that you can predict, things that make sense are non-random,and otherwise you would call them random?

Teenager: Yes.

Stranger: Fair enough, lets take a closer look at your friends. Were they predictable from the first day you met them?

Teenager: Well, I do not remember... Perhaps not as much, I mean, I did not know them that well.

Stranger: That's interesting, so your friends seemed more random before than they seem now.

Teenager: Eventhough it sounds odd, I would agree with that. Why is that?

Stranger: I think that it comes down to information. You see your friends are kind of natural phenomenon or processes. By interacting with them, over time, you extract the bits of information about their behavior and by knowing their behavior, you reduce your uncertainty about them. In short, they no longer seem as unpredictable or random to you.

Teenager: That makes sense to me. So over time, as we interact, we learn about each other and are less surprised about each other's behavior.

Stranger: Exactly. When you are surprised about something, that means you did not predict or anticipate it. With friends there are typically no surprises.

Teenager: But what about boys then? I mean, I can be dating a guy for months and he still is very much unpredictable?

Stranger: Maybe the difference is in the kind information. Compare your conversations friends with conversations with boyfriends. Are they of the same nature?

Teenager: Not at all! With my friends with just talk about everything. With guys, nothing like that.They never open up. Never share anything!

Stranger: Do not get upset. This is rather typical.

Teenager: I know, but it just so unfair.

Stranger: Do not worry, you will find the right guy. A lot of people grow up and stop being secretive, stop playing games.

Teenager: I hope what you are saying is true.

Stranger: Did I ever tell you a story about my eighth grade camping trip?

Teenager: No.

Stranger: Well, when I was in the eighth grade, I went camping with my classmates.We camped pretty high up in the mountains. At night, we got drunk and played guitar by the fire.

Teenager: That sounds cool.

Stranger: Yes, it was. But listen, one of my friends was this good looking, loud-mouth guy. He was always a leader, never had any troubles getting girls. One night, he got really drunk. We were sitting by the fire. He became very silent. And suddenly he just started crying. I have never seen a boy cry so hard before.

Teenager: What happened?

Stranger: For the longest time he just cried and said absolutely nothing. We begged him to tell us what is wrong and he would not.

Teenager: Did he finally tell you?

Stranger: The next morning. He said, my grandmother died from cancer four months ago. She was the nicest and most giving person I knew. I am having hard time letting her go.

Teenager: That is so sad.

Stranger: It was, we stood and shared silence for a while. Then we packed our bags and never returned to these mountains again.

Teenager: Why did you tell me this story?

Stranger: You do not think it was appropriate?

Teenager: No, I mean how is it related to our discussion on randomness?

Stranger: I would say directly.

Teenager: I do not think I understand you? I mean we are talking about one thing, suddenly you shift the focus and tell me a an unrelated story?

Stranger: Well, the fact is, to me that story was very logical in the context of our conversation.

Teenager: So can you explain your logic to me?

Stranger: Yes, it is simple, its like this: All strings are a-random, except for the ones we know about.