will plug into a USB port on your computer that will generate truly random numbers based on quantum phenomena. There are other services that use atmospheric noise to generate random numbers, but although these numbers are random for all practical purposes, they are not truly random. Numbers produced from atmospheric noise are produced by the same deterministic system that Heller is trying to get around. Of course, unless you’re a quantum physicist doing some really wacky things (like Heller), there’s absolutely no reason you’d need true randomness. If atmospheric noise isn’t random enough for you, you’re either a genius or a nut. Possibly both.
Anyway, the point is that because of its reliance on quantum phenomena, the behavior of Heller ’s randomizer is truly random. There’s a fifty percent chance that when you push the button, the device will generate an electromagnetic pulse, and no one, not even Ananke, can predict whether a pulse will be generated. Now let’s say that a particular event will only happen if a certain coin toss comes up heads. Tali shows up at the location of the coin toss and pushes the button, thereby injecting randomness into the situation. If a pulse is emitted, the coin will come up tails. If a pulse is not emitted, the coin will come up heads. Ananke has no way of knowing which will happen.
The obvious question is: “Why not make the pulse fire every time you push the button? Don’t you have a better chance of interfering with Ananke’s intentions if you do your best to interfere with the coin toss every time?” Paradoxically, the answer is no. This is because Ananke will attempt to anticipate any action you take to thwart her, and if you interfere with the coin toss every time, she will simply invert the required result. It will turn out that instead of heads being required to bring about the event, tails was required – and by altering the result, you have just brought about the event you were trying to prevent. If you act in a predictable, deterministic fashion, you’re on Ananke’s turf. She’ll win every time. Heller uses this illustration in his book:
Think of a boxer, Dan, who is much better at striking with his right arm than his left. Dan is facing a skilled opponent named Tim, who knows that Dan’s right is his best weapon. Tim will anticipate that Dan will try to use his right arm at every opportunity and constantly block every attack. As a result of Tim’s blocking, Dan often resorts to using his weaker arm because Tim isn’t expecting it. Of course, Tim will quickly catch on to what Dan is doing and begin to block Tim’s left as well. What you end up with is an endless feedback loop where Tim is attempting to anticipate Dan’s actions and Dan is attempting to anticipate Tim’s reactions. If Dan is skilled enough, he may occasionally land a punch despite Tim’s blocking, not because he always attacks with his stronger arm but because Tim is unable to predict what Dan will do.
The point is that, paradoxically, in order to exert one’s will against Ananke, one must cede some power to her. Only by failing to interfere half of the time do you have any chance of preventing her from realizing her intentions. I think this gets back to Heller’s Yin-Yang comments in his book. Pure volition becomes pure determinism: if you try to exert your own will against Ananke one hundred percent of the time, you will fail one hundred percent of the time. It’s a counterintuitive concept, but it makes perfect sense in a perverse sort of way.
Now Heller ’s strange statement starts to make sense as well:
It doesn’t emit a pulse half the time. That isn’t the same as it not working half the time. Although it’s also true that the interference doesn’t work half the time.
What he means is that half of the time Ananke is unable to anticipate the result of the coin toss. She guesses wrong half the time because she has no way of knowing whether a pulse
Anyway, the point is that because of its reliance on quantum phenomena, the behavior of Heller ’s randomizer is truly random. There’s a fifty percent chance that when you push the button, the device will generate an electromagnetic pulse, and no one, not even Ananke, can predict whether a pulse will be generated. Now let’s say that a particular event will only happen if a certain coin toss comes up heads. Tali shows up at the location of the coin toss and pushes the button, thereby injecting randomness into the situation. If a pulse is emitted, the coin will come up tails. If a pulse is not emitted, the coin will come up heads. Ananke has no way of knowing which will happen.
The obvious question is: “Why not make the pulse fire every time you push the button? Don’t you have a better chance of interfering with Ananke’s intentions if you do your best to interfere with the coin toss every time?” Paradoxically, the answer is no. This is because Ananke will attempt to anticipate any action you take to thwart her, and if you interfere with the coin toss every time, she will simply invert the required result. It will turn out that instead of heads being required to bring about the event, tails was required – and by altering the result, you have just brought about the event you were trying to prevent. If you act in a predictable, deterministic fashion, you’re on Ananke’s turf. She’ll win every time. Heller uses this illustration in his book:
Think of a boxer, Dan, who is much better at striking with his right arm than his left. Dan is facing a skilled opponent named Tim, who knows that Dan’s right is his best weapon. Tim will anticipate that Dan will try to use his right arm at every opportunity and constantly block every attack. As a result of Tim’s blocking, Dan often resorts to using his weaker arm because Tim isn’t expecting it. Of course, Tim will quickly catch on to what Dan is doing and begin to block Tim’s left as well. What you end up with is an endless feedback loop where Tim is attempting to anticipate Dan’s actions and Dan is attempting to anticipate Tim’s reactions. If Dan is skilled enough, he may occasionally land a punch despite Tim’s blocking, not because he always attacks with his stronger arm but because Tim is unable to predict what Dan will do.
The point is that, paradoxically, in order to exert one’s will against Ananke, one must cede some power to her. Only by failing to interfere half of the time do you have any chance of preventing her from realizing her intentions. I think this gets back to Heller’s Yin-Yang comments in his book. Pure volition becomes pure determinism: if you try to exert your own will against Ananke one hundred percent of the time, you will fail one hundred percent of the time. It’s a counterintuitive concept, but it makes perfect sense in a perverse sort of way.
Now Heller ’s strange statement starts to make sense as well:
It doesn’t emit a pulse half the time. That isn’t the same as it not working half the time. Although it’s also true that the interference doesn’t work half the time.
What he means is that half of the time Ananke is unable to anticipate the result of the coin toss. She guesses wrong half the time because she has no way of knowing whether a pulse
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