Discussion
Q: What's the next number in the sequence 2, 4, 8...
A: Anything you want.
Sure, there are sometimes answers "more obvious" than others, and people are generally not asking this sort of question "maliciously"... however, this sort of question always annoys me - particularly given, in this case, there are, at least, two "obvious" answers.
[For anyone unsure, one rule that would give any number, m, as fourth number is, if we index with n from 1: (n-1)(n-2)(n-3)((m-4)/6) + n]
@ColinTheMathmo I don't think the vast majority are considering Kolmogorov complexity when asking this question. 😀 (Despite it being a fascinating topic, connecting to Godel, Turing, Chaitin etc.)
One could argue its possibly considered in some intuitive/subconscious way. Even then, say, in the example I gave, 16 and 14 are darn close in "complexity" such that if one's thinking of an "obvious" answer, they're fairly indistinguishable - unlike my general formula which is arguably more complex.
@level98 Yes and no. Kolmogorov Complexity Theory does sorry if give a definitive answer.
But I agree with your actual point, and it's in some of the talks I give.