Dr. Wolfram has done a great job presenting the probabilities of getting a certain sum from rolling a given set of S-sided dice. Those that know me know that sometimes I use math to fall asleep at night. More often that not, though, it ends up keeping me awake for a few days until I solve a certain problem.

The problem I had with Dr. Wolfram’s presentation was a notation I’d never seen and was not contained in any of my books at home. It’s a visual thing with no way to notate it on the blog. Suffice it to say that I finally got it figured out and translated it into a spreadsheet.

Unfortunately, the only copy is not on this computer, so it will be a while before I post it. Interesting, though, to think about the probabilities of rolling three six-sided dice versus the probabilities of rolling one twenty-sided die. In the former, you have thinks that range in probability from 1 in 216 (rolling a 3 or an 18) to 1 in 8 (rolling a 10 or an 11). In the latter, all numbers are 1 in 20. In the former, graphing the results creates a curve, in the latter, it’s a straight line.

I love these things because it gets me to thinking about how we as humans define random. It appears that many so-called randomthings in life resemble curves rather than striaght lines. These curves have certain outcomes that are far more likely than others.

Remember that in a random situation the least likely outcome is the most special. It’s also the one I want to go for. I’ll either be really succesful (roll an 18) or really fail (roll a 3). But I certainly won’t come up with the common 10s and 11s. 🙂