Nothing is truly Random - and how you can Capitalize off of that Fact

'Random' doesn't exist. I'll just say that right now. I'm not just talking about that "omg so random" kind of personality that some people try to cultivate in lieu of being interesting. Not only are people not random, but nor is everything else people typically perceive to be random. A coin toss is among the first few things that people think of when they think "random" but in reality, that outcome is determined the second it leaves your hand. Coins aren't magic after all, they're just physical objects. They're subject to the same forces that anything else in the universe is subject to. The illusion of randomness comes from the fact that the forces acting on the coin (strength and angle of the toss, local wind speed/direction, exact shape and size of the coin, height above sea level, etc) are unknown to us, but if they are known, then the outcome can be predicted with certainty. The same goes with a set of dice; learn the factors acting on the dice and you learn the outcome. These are physical objects and they behave as such. There's no magic here.

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Even random number generators aren't random. They seem random, sure, and for many purposes, they're random enough. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with 'random enough'. In fact, anyone demanding true randomness would probably be a pedantic, insufferable psychopath. The fact remains though, that true randomness cannot exist in a universe with predictable rules.

Some random number generators use physical objects to determine their outputs. These are actual machines, rather than just software. The problem here is, as we've learned, that dice roles, coin tosses, or the resulting movement of any physical object that you can name, is nothing more than a predictable output of it's inputs. Know the magnitude of the forces applied to an object, and you can predict how it will move, and when/where it will stop moving. In this case; if you know how long and with how much force a machine will shake a tub of dice, you will be able to use that information to predict how the dice will interact with their environment, and with each other, to predict the exact position and orientation of every die in that tub. It's complex and time consuming, but it can be done.

This is where random number generator machines expose themselves; the movement of a physical object determines the output, but the forces exerted on the object are determined by software. Even if you have a random number generator determine the magnitude with which another random number generator machine rolls thirty 10-sided dice, you're just moving the problem. No matter how many random number generator machines are involved, go up the chain far enough and you'll see that the input forces of the first random number generator machine are determined by a piece of software, which can never be random.

The entire physical world is governed by the same physical rules, and with enough data, anything can be predicted. There's a reason for everything. There is no such thing as magic. If your laptop breaks today, then it might seem like there's no reason behind it, but there always is. Maybe a critical component wasn't soldered onto the motherboard properly and came off as a result of the combination of excess heat and poor workmanship on the part of the manufacturer. You may not know it, or see it, but it's there. If you manage to just pass a set of traffic lights before they turn red, then that also has many factors which are at play. It may seem random, but everything from the exact time you decided to start the engine and pull out of the driveway, to the number of cars that stopped at adjacent intersections (which were all influenced by other factors), all played a part in whether you could make that light.  

Source: XKCD

Humans aren’t Special

I know what you're thinking; "You can predict dice and rocks and other dead things, but people are special - they decide what they want to do or think and no-one could every predict that." Not so fast! Humans may seem unpredictable in what they think and how they act second-by-second, but we are mere physical beings, and as such, are governed by the same rules that govern everything else in our universe. Brains are nothing more than chemicals and electrical impulses, and so can be predicted if enough factors are known. Just like knowing everything that effects a dice roll lets you predict the outcome, once you know the exact physical makeup of an individual's brain, how it's wired up, how strong each connection is, everything, you can predict their thoughts, actions, and reactions, with absolute certainty.

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How to Benefit

This is all very interesting stuff, and it teaches you a lot about the world; everything happens for a reason (another way of saying 'nothing is random'), and nothing is without explanation, even if neither are obvious.

If you have a problem that doesn't have a obvious solution, think about it in terms of physical processes and the answer may reveal itself to you. For example, you can easily solve the "cry while cutting onions" problem by thinking of it in terms of physical processes: Even though you can't see it, the onion gives off tiny particles when it's cut, making anyone around it cry. Prevent the buildup of those particles in the air by cutting under a stove-top exhaust fan. There, problem solved, by thinking of it like a physical process. Remember: Everything is a physical process, and lots of problems can be solved by thinking about each part of the process in that way.

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Thinking of everything in terms of a non-random physical process also offers hope. If you suffer from a medical condition for which there is no cure, then that likely won't be the case forever. Everything is caused by some physical process by one method or another, so as long as research is being done, a cure is inevitable. The only factor dictating whether a cure is found or not, is whether research is being done or not. 

It's quite tempting to say that sometimes things just happen for no reason, or by chance, but this is not the case. Everything has a cause, which can be tracked to physical processes, and those physical processes can be tracked and predicted with enough data. While understanding that nothing is truly random is mostly inconsequential, understanding that nothing is random, and that everything is governed by physical processes, can help solve problems in an efficient an logical way.