just how random is shuffle?

[kj]

People's concept of random contains too much alternating. If they are asked to write down the numbers 1-5 randomly, they alternate too much (not enough strings of the same number). So what people want when they say they want "random", isn't random at all. The concept of randomness is interesting. From what I've read, it's just the absence of a recognizable pattern. So you use all kinds of analyses to look for patterns, but just because you don't find any, doesn't mean there aren't any. It may mean you haven't looked hard enough. So most random number generators are quasi-random number generators. kj.