How different do random seeds need to be?
random
Solution
Short answer: Avoid the re-seeding, as it doesn't buy you anything here. Long answer below.
That all depends on what exactly you need. In Common defects in initialization of pseudorandom number generators it is outlined that linear dependent seeds (which 1, 2, 3, 4 definitely are) are a bad choice for initializing multiple PRNGs, at least when used for simulation and desiring uncorrelated results.
If all you do is rolling a few dice, or generating some pseudo-random input for something uncritical, then it very likely doesn't matter.
Note also that using some classes of a PRNG itself for generating seeds have the same problem in generating linear dependent numbers (LCGs spring to mind).
Problem
Consider code like this (Python): ``` import random for i in [1, 2, 3, 4]: random.seed(i) randNumbers = [random.rand() for i in range(100)] # initialize a list with 100 random numbers doStuff(randNumbers) ``` I want to make sure that randNumbers differ significantly from one call to another. Do I need to make sure the seed numbers differ significantly between the subsequent calls, or is it sufficient that the seeds are different (no matter how)? To the pedants: please realize the above code is super-over-simplified