Post date: Jun 15, 2015 2:09:03 AM
Random events and flukes shape our lives so much! (at least that is how I see my life so far).
I believe When in dilemma, arbitrary decisions based on a coin flip work well. It is similar to randomized algorithms, in which randomized solutions work very efficiently. In some cases far better than deterministic solutions. We are generally afraid of randomness and uncertainty, although we know that nothing is deterministic. We are scared of the unknown, even in cases when known is terrible. We prefer to stick with known devils, as the saying goes - A known devil is better than an unknown angel.
We are afraid to make decisions that depend on gamble or outcome of a coin flip! but mathematics shows that sometimes, these algos can lead to a tremendous improvement in performance sometimes So much that no known deterministic algo can match that!
So when you have many choices to choose from and know that most of them are somewhat good, none of them is horrible. That is the time when it is most challenging to make a choice ...and that is the time when random choices work best! I highly recommend thinking but.. at times when decisions are tighter, you can trust a flip of a coin.
Works for me ! :)