Thread:Vérité et Masques/@comment-26207550-20150622081756/@comment-26121490-20150625065941

Tesla Effect wrote: So I should just treat you all as if you dont exist physically and that you all are just random numbers made into names and having a VI dictate your personalities on my screen...seems legit. That's (quite) a bit of a leap in logic. The point was that there's really no reason to get super angry over trolls and vandals. They're just a fact of life and a problem to be dealt with, but not the end of the world. And even though you'll almost never physically encounter someone you meet on the internet, the connections formed through communication with other people (be it via text, skype, etc.) are very real. Of course, they're also very dependent on electricity... :P

Also, as an aside (and just so I can nerd out), computers aren't capable of creating or handling "random numbers". Computers can do nothing without instruction, and the very act of instructing the computer removes all random chance. However, there are many pseudo-RNG algorithms that have been engineered to output each value within the set range a roughly equal number of times (for a "random" distribution). Other algorithms can be skewed to favor some outcomes over others while still appearing random (slot machines, anyone???). So yeah, random numbers and computers don't go together. The more you know, I guess... XD