A random walk

December 16, 2011

A little while ago I gave a talk at Ru3y Manor about randomness.

I put the slides in a random order before the talk, as a bit of a gimmick. Watching it back, it just about worked even though I had no idea what slides are coming next. It felt very different doing it, but I don’t think my nerves really come across.

The video of me adlibbing and squirming is now online. Hope you enjoy watching me suffer a little.

Update: it’s been pointed out that my method of shuffling the slides is subject to bias. Here’s a Monte Carlo proof of sorts. If this truly bothers you, you should probably get out more.

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1 Comment
  1. James Adam says:
    December 16, 2011 at 12:32 am

    Even if the seed was a joke, I don’t think the randomisation of the slides ended up being gimmicky; my experience was that it broke down the barrier between you as presenter, and we as audience, because neither of us knew quite what was going to come next. We all took a risk, together, and it came off splendidly. And that felt special to me, and exciting in a way that so many presentations are not. Thanks so much!