Tag: Probability

When creating a blog, one of the first things to do is to come up with a name. Before choosing datastory.it, we considered several options, but some of them were already taken. On one of these sites, we came across a phrase that made our few remaining hairs stand on end. It went something like this:
“This site contains an algorithm capable of generating Lotto numbers that are more likely to be drawn than others.”

Such words sound to a statistician like a blasphemy sounds to a priest. Have you ever heard of “hot numbers” or “overdue numbers”? Surely you have. Well, we can guarantee you that these numbers are meaningless, and there is no algorithm capable of generating numbers more likely to be drawn than others. Let’s explore why.