What is random?

Thinking about the word ‘random’ is pretty flabbergasting. We use it many times in a day but we never think about what it actually is. Well, random is an act done without following any particular sequence, order or method. When we say random we don’t expect that particular answer or that act, it is very uncertain for us. When we are asked to pick a card from the deck, we pick a random card, or when we roll a die a random number comes. All these things are pretty random to us because they don’t follow a pattern; we chose them out of nowhere (that is contentious).

Is random actually random? Not everything we consider as random is random most of the time we are just ignorant to the facts. Everything we do has logic and has an algorithm. To prove my point let me explain this with an example, when we roll a die a random number comes, we are not sure about the number that can show up, it could be either number from 1-6; but is it random? Well, no. We are just ignorant to the facts and the algorithms it follows. Obviously we don’t calculate the size of the die, height and the force.

That is because the calculations are indeed very tough and takes a lot of time. So we are just ignorant and call it random.
But how can one be so sure that the thing that is random actually does not have any pattern? What if they haven’t been scrutinized for long enough or if they ignored the pattern or them simply couldn’t find a pattern? Everything in this universe follows a pattern and has its own logic. This basically contradicts the definition of the word random. Our brain works on a
pattern whatever we do, whatever we act is based on a pattern that our brain follows. We don’t do things randomly there is an algorithm that we follow.

Universe is made up of unpredictable things but it is predictable. Let us consider the Law of large numbers, if you perform an experiment an enormously large number of times the results will equal the expectation. That what exactly happens in the universe, it is made up of unimaginable number of quantum particles. No matter how random an individual particle is, the thing they are made of is predictable because of the sheer number of particles. The world is not inherently random, it only appears that way.

Psychologically speaking, when we experience something we form an opinion about that and when we encounter it we act in a certain way. So, basically, we don’t act random it is our mind working in a pattern based on our experiences.
Then what is random? We can say that it is an illusive word. Things we call random are basically pseudo random. We cannot spare much time on calculating the patterns and the structure of it. But if we did it will not make things interesting like before. For example, if we used calculations in games, we will not play it with much enthusiasm, predicting the end would make it less interesting.

Same in the game of cards, if anybody could predict the game, what’s the point of playing then?
In present day world we need the randomness. We don’t need to calculate each and everything that is happening around us instead we can live a random life though not entirely random but to some extent. We don’t need to calculate the air pressure, the heights and the force when we flip a coin, instead just flip it. Calculating all this is very time consuming and let’s be honest we cannot spare this much time on predicting the answer of a coin flip. Thus, let the word random survive and let’s not think about it too much.