3 ms·

Gut feelings are also subject to bias.

by tarkin2 16y ago

yters 16y ago
Is there anything not biased?
- jerf 16y ago
  No. There is no such thing as unbiased. I don't just mean something like "to a first approximation there is no such thing as unbiased"; I mean that there is indeed no such thing. It is an English word with no existing actual referent, like the phrase "uniform distribution over the real number line". No such thing. One of the fun things about learning about machine learning is that you get a great and powerful definition of bias, and as a consequence it can clearly explain that what unbiased translates to is "brings no information about the possible set of experiences to the table", but the consequence of that is that it takes an infinite amount of information to come to any conclusions whatsoever, even probabilistic ones. No matter how finitely many bits you apply to your original N-dimensional infinite state space, you still have an infinite state space remaining. And in my experience, the ML definition of "bias" isn't just a cute mathematical construct, it actually has a direct (and somewhat profound) relationship to the word as used in English, so while I used math terminology in the previous paragraph this is not a case where theory and practice diverge. They are actually quite convergent here, and there really is no such thing as "unbiased".
  - Gormo 16y ago
    And if it was possible to be unbiased, what would be the point? We use our subjective reasoning to improve our subjective lives; our understanding and knowledge originates in and applies to our relationships with the world. If we somehow manage remove our selves from the equation, and form a purely objective understanding of things in their own right, what have we actually gained? What's the value of thoughts that exclude the ones thinking them from their application? Ideas are incredibly valuable tools, applied in their context and in pursuit of a valued goal. But I don't understand the value of regarding ideas as "truth" in some abstract and universal sense.
    - yters 16y ago
      NASA astronauts like to know whether it is objectively true their rocket has a very high probability of not blowing up on the launchpad.

Gut feelings are also subject to bias.

by tarkin2 16y ago

Gut feelings are also subject to bias.

yters 16y ago

Is there anything not biased?

jerf 16y ago
No. There is no such thing as unbiased. I don't just mean something like "to a first approximation there is no such thing as unbiased"; I mean that there is indeed no such thing. It is an English word with no existing actual referent, like the phrase "uniform distribution over the real number line". No such thing. One of the fun things about learning about machine learning is that you get a great and powerful definition of bias, and as a consequence it can clearly explain that what unbiased translates to is "brings no information about the possible set of experiences to the table", but the consequence of that is that it takes an infinite amount of information to come to any conclusions whatsoever, even probabilistic ones. No matter how finitely many bits you apply to your original N-dimensional infinite state space, you still have an infinite state space remaining. And in my experience, the ML definition of "bias" isn't just a cute mathematical construct, it actually has a direct (and somewhat profound) relationship to the word as used in English, so while I used math terminology in the previous paragraph this is not a case where theory and practice diverge. They are actually quite convergent here, and there really is no such thing as "unbiased".
- Gormo 16y ago
  And if it was possible to be unbiased, what would be the point? We use our subjective reasoning to improve our subjective lives; our understanding and knowledge originates in and applies to our relationships with the world. If we somehow manage remove our selves from the equation, and form a purely objective understanding of things in their own right, what have we actually gained? What's the value of thoughts that exclude the ones thinking them from their application? Ideas are incredibly valuable tools, applied in their context and in pursuit of a valued goal. But I don't understand the value of regarding ideas as "truth" in some abstract and universal sense.
  - yters 16y ago
    NASA astronauts like to know whether it is objectively true their rocket has a very high probability of not blowing up on the launchpad.