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From: kort@hounx.UUCP (B.KORT)
Newsgroups: net.startrek,net.games
Subject: Re: Is it logical to make random decisions?
Message-ID: <768@hounx.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 27-Mar-86 22:47:26 EST
Article-I.D.: hounx.768
Posted: Thu Mar 27 22:47:26 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Mar-86 06:59:22 EST
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David desJardins is correct.  In certain games, the optimal strategy
is to randomly select a move among a set of alternatives.

This leads to an interesting point.  To a disinterested observer,
a random strategy may be perceived as an "irrational" strategy.
(Hence the phrase, "there is method to his madness.)  In general,
if someone is evidently following a nondeterministic (hence
unpredictible) strategy, is it decidable whether the person is
using a logical random strategy or merely behaving erratically?
It seems to me that it would be very difficult to decide the issue
unless one had many repetitions of the play upon which to cumulate
statistics.

--Barry Kort   ...ihnp4!houxm!hounx!kort