And this suggests an alternative orientation of those experiments in which subjects are instructed to make guesses, throughout a long random sequence of red or green lights, whether red or green will come up next. Subjects apparently persist in guessing on the basis of some pattern they think they perceive, an “irrational” mode of behavior given their knowledge that the sequence is generated by a random device. But, as Herbert Simon points out, “Man is not only a learning animal; he is a pattern-finding and concept-forming animal” (“Theories of Decision-Making in Economics and Behavioral Science,” American Economic Review, 44:272). Why not, then, add to the experiment a cooperating pattern-maker, who generates the signals subject to various constraints and random interferences, and let the persistent pattern-seeking subject use his skill in finding the pattern planted by a cooperative partner rather than spend it futilely on random series?

XREF: Connects to the classic gambler's fallacy and research on apophenia and pattern-seeking cognition (e.g., Kahneman's work on the narrative fallacy). FICTION: A cooperative pattern-maker who hides a pattern inside randomness could be a premise for a story about hidden design vs. apparent chaos.

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 742