Randomness, Chance, Coincidence, Lawlessness

Coincidence#

A coincidence is a surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related, with no apparent causal connection. (Diaconis & Mosteller, 1989, p. 853). (Diaconis & Mosteller, 1989)

Klaas Landsman's comment: The subjective nature of this definition (i.e. ‘surprising’, ‘perceived’, ‘meaningful’, and ‘apparent’) may repel the scientist, but ironically, the aim of this definition is to debunk coincidences.

Lawlessness vs Randomness#

Van der Waerden's theorem basically asserts that there is no finished lawless choice sequence that is random: every binary sequence satisfies certain arithmetic laws. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Waerden's_theorem