Randomness

==Chapter Outline==

==Chapter Outline==

Since chance is hap, the root of happy, it would seem that randomness, a type of chance, might have a happy etymology. Not so. Likely ancestors of the word "random" are found in Anglo-Norman, Old French, and Middle French and include randoun, raundun, raundoun, randon, randun, and rendon -- words indicating speed, impulsiveness, and violence. These earlier words are found beginning around the 12th century and probably derive from randir, to run fast or gallop. Bumper stickers implore drivers to "practice random acts of kindness," but only because people in our culture fear random acts of violence so much that this ingrained phrase can be punned upon -- and at a deeper level, perhaps, because the speed and violence of other vehicles are to be feared. While today it might be harmless for us to encounter "a random" (a person unknown to us, according to the Jargon File) sitting in the computer lab exploring a system at random, a "random encouter" centuries ago was much more likely to resemble a violent random encounter in ''Dungeons & Dragons.'' Think, for instance, of a figure on horseback hurtling through a village, trampling and slaughtering whoever he can reach.

Since chance is hap, the root of happy, it would seem that randomness, a type of chance, might have a happy etymology. Not so. Likely ancestors of the word "random" are found in Anglo-Norman, Old French, and Middle French and include randoun, raundun, raundoun, randon, randun, and rendon -- words indicating speed, impulsiveness, and violence. These earlier words are found beginning around the 12th century and probably derive from randir, to run fast or gallop. Bumper stickers implore drivers to "practice random acts of kindness," but only because people in our culture fear random acts of violence so much that this ingrained phrase can be punned upon -- and at a deeper level, perhaps, because the speed and violence of other vehicles are to be feared. While today it might be harmless for us to encounter "a random" (a person unknown to us, according to the Jargon File) sitting in the computer lab exploring a system at random, a "random encouter" centuries ago was much more likely to resemble a violent random encounter in ''Dungeons & Dragons.'' Think, for instance, of a figure on horseback hurtling through a village, trampling and slaughtering whoever he can reach.