How to Think of a (Pseudo)Random Number

Human beings can't really think of random numbers. For example, think of ten random single-digit numbers. Now do it again. And again. Once more. I bet you never had the same digit twice in a row, did you? We are really bad at it. So what I have here is a way to come up with more random numbers (not totally random, though!).

So here's how you do it:

• Think of a four or five digit number. If you're bad at maths, three might work, and if you're very good you might need to go for six or seven. But four or five should do it for most of us.
• Add the digits together, and if the result has more than one digit, add the digits of that number. The best part is you can do this with pieces of the number too. For example, say you think of 9988. You could do 9+9+8+8 = 34 -> 3+4 = 7. But it's easier to do 9+9 = 18 -> 9, and 8+8 = 16 -> 7. And then 9+7 = 16 -> 1+6 = 7. Cool, right?
• That final digit is your answer.

The only rules to follow are:

• Once you think of a number, that is the number. No revisions, no overthinking.
• Don't think of the number as a whole, i.e. "one thousand two hundred and thirty four". Instead, think of it a digit at a time at a decent pace, "one... two... three... four".

You can adapt this. For example, want to do a coin flip? Only allow 1-8 (9 means try again), and set evens as heads, and odds as tails.