Your calculator cannot produce random numbers.
Neither can your computer.
The lottery does not produce random numbers.
The human being, in particular, cannot produce random numbers.
All of these things are biased in some way. Human beings are the worst: if asked to think of a number between 1 and 10, most people will tend to say the number 7. Further, most people will tend to think of odd numbers, as they somehow think they are “more” random. Try it on your friends!
Computers and calculators use computer programs that suggest random numbers. However, these are not random in the slightest – they are just based on very complicated mathematical functions, and mimic random numbers well enough to be used in most real-world applications. These numbers are often said to be pseudorandom.
However, atmospheric radiation is completely random, and is used by random.org to produce truly random sequences. Try the following:
Generate truly strong passwords (8 letters/numbers long).
Pick lottery numbers (with which your chances of winning are 1 in 13,983,816).
Generate a number between 1 and … 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, or 30.
Or even listen to the sound of randomness.
