Then step 2 involved looking at a grid to see what kind of junk corresponded with your number. In this case it was 'mattress'. Sure enough, the Junk Genie guessed a mattress! I tried this a few more times and I was shocked that the Genie could get it right every single time. Check it out here: http://www.1800gotjunk.com/genie/
I knew it had to be some mathematical formula or something. Some mechanism to how it worked. Keep in mind math is my weakest subject so I was out of my element. I searched online and found this: http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2009/08/18/how-a-silly-online-guessing-game-works/
Being a math moron, it was still hard to understand. I had to do some of the legwork 'in my own language' and then I pretty much got the gist. So what is it? Basically no matter what number you pick, it'll always be a multiple of 9. All the multiples of 9 on the grid are listed as the same thing. If you tried the game many times and always would get the same answer (ie 'mattress' over and over again) it would seem less magical or less formulaic. SO what they do is they re-arrange the names of junk in the grid each time so it looks more random and chaotic. But as long as all the multiples of 9 on the grid are listed as the same type of junk, it doesn't matter what kind of junk is shown during a given round. For example, my original number was 9 right? Well, each time I looked at the '9' spot on the grid, whatever was listed there would be the kind of junk that was picked for the genie's answer.
In other words, play the game, and whatever you see under the 9 square (or any number that's a multiple of 9) will be the magic answer no matter what.
What this shows is that people playing this game are under the illusion of free will but it's 'rigged' so the outcome will always be the same, and the changing answers further camouflage the nature of it all. So if our universe follows formulas and laws in a similar manner, in theory we are probably bound by a certain fate or destiny, and could figure out the future by knowing the right interpretations of variables or formulas for the given moment.
The next step is figuring the applicable formulas for that moment, and then using them for divination. This is the hardest part, though I do not think it's impossible. We know 2+2=4, pain hurts, cold makes us shiver, and other simple and obvious truths. If our perception and understanding could be trained to simplify the most complex of layers into similar truisms, mastery is to be had. With my awful mathematical capacity, I'm at a severe disadvantage, though I'll update any breakthroughs that might come along...
