Pseudo Random Numbers and the Case for Fate

One question with Rendezwho we get asked a lot is how is my match selected. Well the short answer is it’s random! The longer answer however requires us to examine what exactly ‘random’ is for a computer.

A computer, because it is a deterministic machine cannot generate truly random numbers. Instead it generates what we call pseudo-random numbers where the basis for generating the numbers if often based on random data. For example, it might take the last 30, keyboard characters typed and use those for a basis for generating the number (it is unlikely that this will be the same in two occurrences). It might take the random data in memory and use that, it might use the noise in the atmosphere. It might take some complicated math forumla like the Mersenne Twister algorithm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_Twister) to generate this number.

For us as users of the computer system, this ‘simulates’ randomness very well and for all practical purposes is random. But in reality it is a very specific set of computations that generate that number.

The way Rendezwho works is it takes all the signups during a 24 hour period and puts them into a list. It then uses this “random” number to shuffle the list and pairs the top two users off the list, then the next two and the next two, until the list is exhausted. While it appears to you that your Rendezwho is selected at random it is in fact a very specific sequence of computations that matches you with that person.

Everything had to go exactly the way it went for you to get this match, so while the computer can call it random, we prefer to think of it as fate. Dare we say it, fate!