Modern slot machines have taken on the appearance of video games. Not only do they have colorful background scenes, characters that move, and sounds, but they also have chairs that thump and vibrate to signal a win, even wins of what I might term “losing magnitude.” Play a dollar, win eighty cents: All the stimuli fire the player's brain into pleasures associated with winning.
Slot machines are, of course, close relatives of video games because they have computing power. In the case of slots, it’s a matter of generating random numbers. Yes, random. That randomness, however, seems to be lost on certain people. How do I know?
First, I confess that I have put money in slot machines, sometimes winning more than I took to the casino. Second, I have observed what some people do in casinos. As the wheels spin or the characters on the video display and scenes set in motion either the eagerness or anxiety of players, some people touch the screen, rub the screen, tap the screen, or try to shake the machine to get it to stop on a payline or in a pay scene.
Now computers are fast, very fast as you probably know. The moment—we’re talking a very short moment—one initiates slot play, the random number generator goes to and finishes work. The screen activity is there for driving the pleasure centers and neurotransmitters of the brain. No amount of touching the screen has any effect. Decision to put money in the machine to initiate play equals virtually simultaneous result.
And that’s the way all chancy decisions occur. Once we put them in motion, no amount of fidgeting, dancing around, touching something, “rubbing the screen” changes the outcome. Outcomes are often predetermined by the decisions we make.
Whenever our decisions seem bad to others but by chance turn out to be not so bad for us, we think we had something to do with the win.
Let’s apply the principle. Someone takes a foolish risk, like getting into a zoo’s lion cage. The person escapes unscathed, heart pounding, dopamine rushing among synapses. The onlookers know the decision was bad; the fool just thinks of win, of having escaped without a demonstrable loss—probably even so in the face of civil penalties or even jail time. One might be able to pet a tiger, kick the ball in a polar bear’s enclosure, or get into a pool with alligators and escape. Some have. Some haven’t. That some have succeeded without apparent injury or death might not be an indication of the full ramifications of their acts. Such instances of "success" might be akin to playing a dollar in a slot machine and winning eighty cents. It is also possible for one to rob a store filled with customers and get away. Some have; some haven't. Randomness often plays a role in success or failure. The Web is filled with stories about criminal acts foiled by chance encounters with police, natural hazards (such as the Russian robbers experienced when their getaway car was struck either by another car or by lightning*), and even armed citizens who happen along.**
Once we put in play a foolish decision, it’s only randomness that works either to our favor or disfavor. There’s little we can do about the outcome whenever randomness is the control. And that’s why I will say every so often: What we anticipate is rarely a problem. Anticipation requires insight, foresight, and planning. Anticipation diminishes the effect of randomness, even in a world replete with it.
Just remember that if you initiate play on a random number generator, you are not in control.
* http://www.bing.com/videos/searchq=Russian+robbers+getaway+car+struck+by+lightning&view=detail&mid=6B73607F048D63D5F9606B73607F048D63D5F960&FORM=VIRE
**http://concealednation.org/2015/01/armed-citizen-stops-assault-and-robbery-four-degenerates-arrested-1/
Slot machines are, of course, close relatives of video games because they have computing power. In the case of slots, it’s a matter of generating random numbers. Yes, random. That randomness, however, seems to be lost on certain people. How do I know?
First, I confess that I have put money in slot machines, sometimes winning more than I took to the casino. Second, I have observed what some people do in casinos. As the wheels spin or the characters on the video display and scenes set in motion either the eagerness or anxiety of players, some people touch the screen, rub the screen, tap the screen, or try to shake the machine to get it to stop on a payline or in a pay scene.
Now computers are fast, very fast as you probably know. The moment—we’re talking a very short moment—one initiates slot play, the random number generator goes to and finishes work. The screen activity is there for driving the pleasure centers and neurotransmitters of the brain. No amount of touching the screen has any effect. Decision to put money in the machine to initiate play equals virtually simultaneous result.
And that’s the way all chancy decisions occur. Once we put them in motion, no amount of fidgeting, dancing around, touching something, “rubbing the screen” changes the outcome. Outcomes are often predetermined by the decisions we make.
Whenever our decisions seem bad to others but by chance turn out to be not so bad for us, we think we had something to do with the win.
Let’s apply the principle. Someone takes a foolish risk, like getting into a zoo’s lion cage. The person escapes unscathed, heart pounding, dopamine rushing among synapses. The onlookers know the decision was bad; the fool just thinks of win, of having escaped without a demonstrable loss—probably even so in the face of civil penalties or even jail time. One might be able to pet a tiger, kick the ball in a polar bear’s enclosure, or get into a pool with alligators and escape. Some have. Some haven’t. That some have succeeded without apparent injury or death might not be an indication of the full ramifications of their acts. Such instances of "success" might be akin to playing a dollar in a slot machine and winning eighty cents. It is also possible for one to rob a store filled with customers and get away. Some have; some haven't. Randomness often plays a role in success or failure. The Web is filled with stories about criminal acts foiled by chance encounters with police, natural hazards (such as the Russian robbers experienced when their getaway car was struck either by another car or by lightning*), and even armed citizens who happen along.**
Once we put in play a foolish decision, it’s only randomness that works either to our favor or disfavor. There’s little we can do about the outcome whenever randomness is the control. And that’s why I will say every so often: What we anticipate is rarely a problem. Anticipation requires insight, foresight, and planning. Anticipation diminishes the effect of randomness, even in a world replete with it.
Just remember that if you initiate play on a random number generator, you are not in control.
* http://www.bing.com/videos/searchq=Russian+robbers+getaway+car+struck+by+lightning&view=detail&mid=6B73607F048D63D5F9606B73607F048D63D5F960&FORM=VIRE
**http://concealednation.org/2015/01/armed-citizen-stops-assault-and-robbery-four-degenerates-arrested-1/
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