Thomas,
I have seen you debate this issue time and time again. Your blatant statement that you "can't" predict is just too blanket for me. ANY system that reduces the PLAYER's chances of winning is a successful prediction.
Via computers, we can predict where a hurricane WILL NOT hit. Also via computers, we can predict with a certain degree of certainty that a Hurricane WILL hit in some general location. Via computers, your local weather man gives you a forecast for the weekend. Like it or not, if you watch the weather on TV to plan your weekend, you have bought into the idea that a truly Random system can be predicted, with some degree of certainty. Think about that for a minute.
Also, think about what a weather man uses to generate his predictions. He uses past data. Huh? yep. He will use the past data from other locale that might be in the path of an approaching weather front. Is the weather man always correct? Nope, not on your life. Are most of the lottery predictors on the internet correct? Nope, not even close. Why? No one has been able to find a close enough match to the patterns generated in the closed system of a lottery machine. But like it or not, the lottery machine is not much different than the weather patterns that flow across planet Earth. Earth is for the most part a closed system. There are alot of similarities from the lottery to the weather. Only problem is, no one gets to review any of the actual scientific data from the machine that draws the numbers, whereas we have tons of scientific methods to help us determine the weather.
Our only "DATA" from past history is the draws themseleves. The past draws show us the weather patters that go on inside the machine. Take for example my home state, Florida. It RARELY ever snows here, but sometimes it does. The same holds true for lottery machines. IN a 6/49 lottery, your chances of a draw with the sum of 21 being drawn are immense. Just like snow in florida, it may one day happen (it is draw 1-2-3-4-5-6.) But the majority of draws exist in the sum range of ~ 150 to ~ 160. Those are lottery facts, just as it is a fact that it rarely ever snows in Florida. I will use systems that are based upon these facts. Will the system sometimes fail? You bet. Will it ever snow in Florida when I least expect it? Probably so.
BTW, show me one example of the following 3 Definitions for the word Random...
1> Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective
2> Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or dvent that is described by a probability distribution.
3> Of or relating to an dvent in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.
Most users here would agree that a lottery machine falls under #3, but not #1 or #2. Are all outcomes in a lottery machine equally likely? You bet. There is nothing that will keep ANY of the balls from being drawn in any sequence. BUT, who's to say that the inherent machine design and how the balls are drawn prdvents certain outcomes, while it tends to favor others? I mean, seriously... Let's consider THESE facts about the lottery machine...
- The balls are all the SAME size and weight
- The balls are always loaded in the same order
- The balls are always drawn from the same location
- The machine is always the same configuration/design
- The machine always runs from the same power source
- The balls are always mixed via the same method
I might have missed a few points, but hopefully you see this all in a new light. Lotteries are not much different than weather. The Earth is much like the machine itself.
- The shape of the Earth has relatively remained unchanged.
- The atmosphere is still comprised of the same general mixture of gasses
- Water still freezes at 32 degrees C to form snow/hail
- Moisture is still loaded into the atmosphere the same way (evaporation)
- It still takes a difference in temp/pressure/humidity to produce a weather disturbance.
Based upon these types of facts (and lot's more), we can predict alot of different weather patterns. The ONLY major difference between predicting the weather, and predicting the lottery, is that the weather man is able to analyze alot more data than the lottery predictor. No one has yet to be able to explain WHY certain dvents occured. But, based upon past historical data, we can to some degree of success tell you what dvents WILL not occur at some point in time. Will it snow in Florida tomorrow, nope, not on your life. If 1-2-3-4-5-6 was drawn tonight in the Florida lottery, I WOULD NOT play it next Friday.
Hmmm, how about this scenario for the #1 definition...
A jet fighter pilot is engaged in evasive maneouvers in an attempt to outfox a surface to air missle. Now, his maneouvers are going to most definately going to be of "no specific pattern, purpose, or objective", in order to foil the missle. Now, the missle is electronically tracking his plane, but is doing so based on past information. Granted, this information may only be milliseconds old, it is STILL past information. In those few moments, the pilot will use whatever knowledge he has about the missle to his advantage. He will use jamming techniques, flares and even high G-force maneouvers in order to force the missle off of his trajectory. Lottery players arent much different. We use information about the machine and it's performance data against it.
So, can we predict the EXACT next draw? Doubtful. But can we eliminate millions of lines of draws that might occur, but probably won't occur? You bet. You see, with the missle, it has only one objective. Hit the target. Whereas the pilot has multiple objectives... Avoid the missle, stay in the air, avoid the ground, dodge that tree, squeeze between those two cliffs... The missle cannot process as much data as the pilot can, and thus CAN be out maneouvered. The only advantage the missle has, is speed. Their speed doesnt give the pilot much time to think, let alone react.
There already is so much lottery data, but yet so little is still known about it. Give it time....
Andrew
P.S. - Did you know, that a lottery machine in a controlled environment with controlled draw methods will produce the same exact results every time? Hmmm, random... Really? Even Random.Org has to depend on something to generate Random numbers....