Teach & case
Help a near-peer reason through the idea — when you explain it, you understand it best — then read the real decision it comes from.
Help Tindra reason about the rule
In a minute you'll be the teacher. Get ready to teach Tindra: understanding that seeded generative code is deterministic.
Seeded generative code is deterministic: the same rule with the same seed gives the same output every time. Change the seed and you get a different picture.
What you've shown you can teach
A case · you decide
Tindra and the generative piece they "lost"
Tindra — a creative-coder who made a stunning piece with a "random" generator and now thinks it is gone forever
Tindra's sketch calls random() to place shapes, seeded by a number. At seed 42 it produced something gorgeous — Tindra closed the tab without saving the image, reran with a new seed, and got something totally different. Tindra is crushed: "It was random, so that exact piece is gone forever." Is it?
A seeded pseudo-random generator isn't truly random — it's DETERMINISTIC. Given the same seed, it emits the exact same sequence of "random" numbers, so the same rule + seed 42 rebuilds the identical piece, pixel for pixel.
"Random-looking" and "unrepeatable" are different. The output looks unpredictable, but the seed is its complete memory: nothing else is stored, and nothing else is needed. Change the seed and you explore; restore the seed and you return.
Tindra thinks the seed-42 piece is unrecoverable because it was "random." Is it actually lost?
Tindra now wants every gallery visitor to see a DIFFERENT piece. Should Tindra hard-code seed 42?
Tindra's takeaway is a coder's superpower: write down the seed and the exact piece is yours forever, and turn the seed into a knob to generate a whole family of variations on purpose.
Who made this?
“In reality, every technology reflects decisions made by designers, companies, and communities, and carries the values and power of those choices.”
- Who benefits from this technology?
- Whose needs are ignored?
When two ideas meet: 2 cases with two people
A case · you decide
Lucian and Tindra: random, but the same every time
Lucian & Tindra — a student who repeats a drawing rule many times, and a friend who adds randomness
Tindra's loop scatters 200 circles using random positions. She loves one run and wants to print it, but each run looks different.
Lucian points out the generator can be started from a fixed number, its seed.
How can Tindra get her favourite layout back?
Lucian's loop repeats. Tindra's seed makes the surprise repeat too.
Who made this?
“In reality, every technology reflects decisions made by designers, companies, and communities, and carries the values and power of those choices.”
- Who benefits from this technology?
- Whose needs are ignored?
A case · you decide
Thaddeus and Nerissa: timing the notes
Thaddeus & Nerissa — a student who sets tempo, and a friend who chooses the pitches
Nerissa's melody should play at 120 beats per minute, one note per beat. Thaddeus has to tell the code how long to wait between notes.
There are 60 seconds in a minute.
How long is each beat?
Nerissa chose the notes. Thaddeus made them arrive on time.
Who made this?
“In reality, every technology reflects decisions made by designers, companies, and communities, and carries the values and power of those choices.”
- Who benefits from this technology?
- Whose needs are ignored?