Post
Topic
Board Development & Technical Discussion
Merits 7 from 4 users
Re: Is it possible to generate an already existing seed?
by
DannyHamilton
on 30/01/2018, 15:07:53 UTC
⭐ Merited by ETFbitcoin (3) ,DooMAD (2) ,AGD (1) ,buwaytress (1)
Hi guys, I'm reading "Mastering Bitcoing" and I'm curious about this topic, I read that with 64 hexadecimal you can generate 10^77 seeds and there is 10^80 atoms in the visible universe, but is it possible that you have a seed that already exist? I'm not focus on the probability, just the possibility.

Thanks and regards!

You need to clarify your question.

Do you mean "mathematically possible" or do you mean "realistically possible"?

Here's an example to explain what I mean...

We humans need to breath oxygen in order to stay alive.  If we don't get enough oxygen, then we suffocate and die.  As such, we have a few face holes that allow us to bring the air that is near our face into our bodies.

Now, if we are in a typical room, that air is almost 21% oxygen.  That oxygen is RANDOMLY distributed throughout the room.  It is RANDOMLY bouncing off the walls, ceiling, other air molecules, and ourselves.  As such, EVERY POSSIBLE configuration of oxygen molecules in the room are EQUALLY possible.  There are a very Very VERY large number of possible configurations of those oxygen molecules that result in there being enough oxygen near your face holes to keep you alive.  Relatively, there are a very Very VERY small number of configurations that result in there NOT being enough oxygen near your face holes to keep you alive.

That being said...

It is "mathematically possible" that the oxygen molecules might bounce around randomly into a configuration where there isn't enough oxygen near you and you die.

However, I think we can agree that in a standard room with a standard amount of oxygen, NOBODY would agree to say that it is "realistically possible" that you will suffocate from oxygen randomly moving away from you.