(It's somewhat enshrined in modern-day RNGs used in simulation and forecasting models.)
Michael Schulson's 2014 Aeon essay, "How to Choose" remains at the top of my best reads of the past decade:
... It makes sense that it should have taken Dove some 15 years to realise that randomness could be an asset. As moderns, we take it for granted that the best decisions stem from a process of empirical analysis and informed choice, with a clear goal in mind. That kind of decision-making, at least in theory, undergirds the ways that we choose political leaders, play the stock market, and select candidates for schools and jobs. It also shapes the way in which we critique the rituals and superstitions of others. But, as the Kantu’ illustrate, there are plenty of situations when random chance really is your best option. And those situations might be far more prevalent in our modern lives than we generally admit. ...
Examples include swidden farmers in New Guinea, China's I Ching, the Athenian Greek elections (more a lottery than today's FPTP precise-count balloting), Renaissance Italy's Doges, and contemporary college admissions, with references for further reading.
(It's somewhat enshrined in modern-day RNGs used in simulation and forecasting models.)
Michael Schulson's 2014 Aeon essay, "How to Choose" remains at the top of my best reads of the past decade:
... It makes sense that it should have taken Dove some 15 years to realise that randomness could be an asset. As moderns, we take it for granted that the best decisions stem from a process of empirical analysis and informed choice, with a clear goal in mind. That kind of decision-making, at least in theory, undergirds the ways that we choose political leaders, play the stock market, and select candidates for schools and jobs. It also shapes the way in which we critique the rituals and superstitions of others. But, as the Kantu’ illustrate, there are plenty of situations when random chance really is your best option. And those situations might be far more prevalent in our modern lives than we generally admit. ...
<https://aeon.co/essays/if-you-can-t-choose-wisely-choose-ran...>
Examples include swidden farmers in New Guinea, China's I Ching, the Athenian Greek elections (more a lottery than today's FPTP precise-count balloting), Renaissance Italy's Doges, and contemporary college admissions, with references for further reading.