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How To Update Your Beliefs Systematically - Bayes’ Theorem

Veritasium · Youtube · 3 HN points · 5 HN comments
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Youtube Summary
Bayes' theorem explained with examples and implications for life.
Check out Audible: http://ve42.co/audible
Support Veritasium on Patreon: http://ve42.co/patreon

I didn't say it explicitly in the video, but in my view the Bayesian trap is interpreting events that happen repeatedly as events that happen inevitably. They may be inevitable OR they may simply be the outcome of a series of steps, which likely depend on our behaviour. Yet our expectation of a certain outcome often leads us to behave just as we always have which only ensures that outcome. To escape the Bayesian trap, we must be willing to experiment.

Special thanks to Patreon supporters:
Tony Fadell, Jeff Straathof, Donal Botkin, Zach Mueller, Ron Neal, Nathan Hansen, Saeed Alghamdi

Useful references:
The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver
The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes’ Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy, by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

Bayes' theorem or rule (there are many different versions of the same concept) has fascinated me for a long time due to its uses both in mathematics and statistics, and to solve real world problems. Bayesian inference has been used to crack the Enigma Code and to filter spam email. Bayes has also been used to locate the wreckage from plane crashes deep beneath the sea.

Music from http://epidemicsound.com "Flourishing Views 3"
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Hacker News Stories and Comments

All the comments and stories posted to Hacker News that reference this video.
Watch this for a great explanation about the statistics of testing for rare diseases https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R13BD8qKeTg
So, in order to do your job of maintaining your health, you need need to do all of these jobs:

1. Learn about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of your health problem 2. Assess the severity of the health problem 3. Learn about the experience of other people 4. Get multiple opinions

Bonus: 5. Learn about multiple valid solutions 6. Find doctor's blind spots

While doing all that, you pay for healthcare, which includes all that. You pay a doctor to know no1, do the no2, remember no3. You then pay for multiple of them to do the same.

But then you still get to the point where you have to decide who to believe. And it would be easy if 4 of them say the same thing. You can be pretty sure they are right[1] because statistics. But what happens when they give multiple differing opinions, like here [2].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R13BD8qKeTg [2] https://digitalsmiledesign.com/files/Old-Website-Assets/PDF/...

Another problem for the less familiar with the Bayes theorem is what is described as the "Bayesian trap", explained by the youtuber Veritasium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R13BD8qKeTg
Definitely.

Another good idea is to show the difference between reality and data can be overwhelmingly significant.

Videos demonstrating this with examples:

- "The Bayesian Trap" https://youtu.be/R13BD8qKeTg

- "Is Most Research Wrong?" https://youtu.be/42QuXLucH3Q&

Apr 06, 2017 · 3 points, 0 comments · submitted by seycombi
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