It's Random

[pshaw_raven]

I recently learned about Monte Carlo simulations. I'm probably a bit behind the curve on this one, but mathematics has never been "my thing," though I'm interested in some mathematical theory. The problem is that my brain doesn't like numbers, to the point that sheets of math problems or lists of numbers can literally look like a foreign language to me, so it might as well be Mandarin Chinese for all the sense it makes. That's something I wish I'd been able to articulate back in elementary school instead of enduring years of "you just don't try" and "I thought you were supposed to be smart." Though I doubt it would have actually helped my case.

It seems that people use these models for financial market stuff, but they can model the outcomes of any set of events, and in one particularly illuminating example, predicting the number of raindrops that would fall in a given area.

I have no idea why I'm this interested in randomness and probability when I can't do simple addition without counting on my fingers.