Abstract
P.S. Laplace (1749–1827) pointed out the following reason why intuitively, a regular outcome of a random event is unlikely:
“We arrange in our thought all possible events in various classes; and we regard as extraordinary those classes which include a very small number. In the game of heads and tails, if heads comes up a hundred times in a row then this appears to us extraordinary, because the almost infinite number of combinations that can arise in a hundred throws are divided in regular sequences, or those in which we observe a rule that is easy to grasp, and in irregular sequences, that are incomparably more numerous.” [Laplace]
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Li, M., Vitányi, P. (2008). Algorithmic Probability. In: An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applications. Texts in Computer Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49820-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49820-1_4
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-33998-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-49820-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)