Can you control the future?
This game is a science experiment that demonstrates the answer is yes, you can.
Personally I consider it to be a fun, interesting and insightful experiment.
Plus, this is weird science you can do at home.
Here is some background...
A group of researchers wanted to answer what ought to be a very simple question.
Is the human mind able to predict the future, and more importantly are we able to change the future?
It's not as crackpot as it sounds. Our mind is engineered by evolution to keep us alive.
Because of this, we're able to "imagine" or "visualize" enormous sequences of possible scenarios and how they might play out.
We then filter and prioritize these scenarios by their impact to ourselves.
While we don't necessarily focus on the best possible outcomes, we try actively to avoid scenarios that will end our lives. Our ability to visualize things allows us to accomplish literally anything, simply by picturing it and taking steps to make it happen.
Unfortunately, like a deer caught in the headlights, when something scares us badly enough we will focus on it until we've influenced events enough to cause a negative outcome to occur.
This is sometimes known as the Delphi effect
The oracle at Delphi was notorious for her predictions, in many cases, her predictions setup the course of events that led to their own resolution, i.e. they became self fulfilling properties.
So how would you test if the Delphi effect is real?
With a game of course!
So here's what you do.
Grab a picture of 2 hexagons
Label each point as follows, the order and position won't change the outcomes.
111111
111110
111011
110011
100011
000011
000010
000100
001000
010000
100000
000000
Now put a point in the center of each hexagon and
label one
010101
and the other
101010
Now grab 2 coins.
Flip 1 coin randomly, as many times as it takes to get either 11,11,11 or 00,00,00
Heads is 0, Tails is 1.
For our purposes it doesn't change the probability distribution to change that as long you keep it consistent.
This is your starting point.
Lay that coin down and leave it there, it's now your avatar in the game.
Now just flip the second coin randomly writing down what it's doing, but don't try to actively think about it.
Each time you flip, move the coin to the position representing the last 6 flips.
This is structured so you can read them forwards or backwards and it will mean the same thing for the purposes of the game, so if you don't see your sequence check to see if it's opposite is there and move there instead.
If by some chance you get a sequence that isn't listed forwards or backwards you have to stay put until you do.
You win when you have landed on any hexagon's center point, try to visualize it.
If you exhaust yourself trying to get 6 in a row to start with and can't do it after 60 attempts, you need to take a break and clear your mind.
Here's a video to keep you entertained while you clear your head.
DONT READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU'VE PLAYED THE GAME AT LEAST ONCE
Alright, so you've played it and you've noticed that you always make it out in 6 iterations or less, or you've played it and it takes you much, much longer than that.
How is that possible?
Each coin flip "ought" to have a 50/50 chance of coming up heads or tails, it doesn't really though as explained in the video above.
Yet the game compensates for that, by causing the win scenarios to exceed the lose scenarios, by a vast margin.
In effect, the game is rigged so you can't lose unless you are subconsciously sabotaging your own results.
Here is why...
For any 7 coin tosses you have 1:2^6 or 1:128 chance of getting any random string of 6 digits.
We condensed the number of possibilities by ensuring that all palindromes appear only a single time.
We then went a step further and said "you read it forward or backwards"
This means after 6 tries you have a 100% chance of winning, but it also means at 7 tries you have a 100% chance etc.
The only way to fail is if you are subconsciously influencing the result to your own detriment, i.e. the Delphi Effect
Are you able to influence future events? Of course you can! You do this all the time. Each time you visualize something, you begin to take steps to make it happen sometimes consciously, but usually subconsciously.
Your mind will try to shape your reality around whatever you envision it to be.
So make sure the future you envision is the one you want and not the one you fear.
The observant will note that the only method of winning this game involves obtaining the answer to life, the universe and everything.