At the dawn of the theory of codes
“This wizard has a crystal ball which unerringly reads people’s minds,” I said. “All it needs is a psychic whiff of you over the phone.”
“That’s impossible,” he said, “Show me.”
“No problem,” I said, “we can call him right now. Think of a three-digit number.”
“758,” Skep said.
I called the Wizard right away. Here’s what I said over the phone:
“Hello? Is this the Wizard?”
“Well, could I speak to him please?”
“O.K.”
“Hello, Wizard? I have someone here who wants you to guess his number.”
I handed the phone to Skep.
Skep: “Yes, you’re right. The number is 758.”
Skep’s eyebrow was twitching vigorously. “You’re obviously communicating the information in some way,” he said, “though I can’t figure out how.”
