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Jaynes is brilliant, but you ought to take care when reading him. For example, AFAICT his digression on Gödel’s theorem in Logic of science is complete nonsense

Jaynes is brilliant, but you ought to take care when reading him. For example, AFAICT his digression on Gödel’s theorem in Logic of science is complete nonsense, and the rant against Kolmogorov-style axiomatization of infinite probability spaces in same isn’t much better.

kgwgk 4y ago
“From many years of experience with its applications in hundreds of real problems, our views on the foundations of probability theory have evolved into something quite complex, which cannot be described in any such simplistic terms as ‘pro-this' or ‘anti-that'. For example, our system of probability could hardly be more different from that of Kolmogorov, in style, philosophy, and purpose. What we consider to be fully half of probability theory as it is needed in current applications – the principles for assigning probabilities by logical analysis of incomplete information – is not present at all in the Kolmogorov system. “Yet, when all is said and done, we find ourselves, to our own surprise, in agreement with Kolmogorov and in disagreement with his critics, on nearly all technical issues. As noted in Appendix A, each of his axioms turns out to be, for all practical purposes, derivable from the Polya–Cox desiderata of rationality and consistency. In short, we regard our system of probability as not contradicting Kolmogorov's; but rather seeking a deeper logical foundation that permits its extension in the directions that are needed for modern applications.”
hackandthink 4y ago
I've read in Quantum Information Theory papers, that Jaynes misunderstood Bell (he just didn't get it). https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/233203/has-jayness-argument-against-bells-theorem-been-debunked https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/233203/has-jayne...
- kgwgk 4y ago
  I just found this recent writeup on the subject, I didn’t have time to read it yet but looks interesting (he hasn’t been active on HN for almost two years, by the way). https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/poking-holes-in-bells-inequality-e-t-jaynes-possibly-clearing-up-some-mysteries/ https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/poking-holes-i...

kgwgk 4y ago

“From many years of experience with its applications in hundreds of real problems, our views on the foundations of probability theory have evolved into something quite complex, which cannot be described in any such simplistic terms as ‘pro-this' or ‘anti-that'. For example, our system of probability could hardly be more different from that of Kolmogorov, in style, philosophy, and purpose. What we consider to be fully half of probability theory as it is needed in current applications – the principles for assigning probabilities by logical analysis of incomplete information – is not present at all in the Kolmogorov system. “Yet, when all is said and done, we find ourselves, to our own surprise, in agreement with Kolmogorov and in disagreement with his critics, on nearly all technical issues. As noted in Appendix A, each of his axioms turns out to be, for all practical purposes, derivable from the Polya–Cox desiderata of rationality and consistency. In short, we regard our system of probability as not contradicting Kolmogorov's; but rather seeking a deeper logical foundation that permits its extension in the directions that are needed for modern applications.”

hackandthink 4y ago

I've read in Quantum Information Theory papers, that Jaynes misunderstood Bell (he just didn't get it). https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/233203/has-jayness-argument-against-bells-theorem-been-debunked https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/233203/has-jayne...

kgwgk 4y ago
I just found this recent writeup on the subject, I didn’t have time to read it yet but looks interesting (he hasn’t been active on HN for almost two years, by the way). https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/poking-holes-in-bells-inequality-e-t-jaynes-possibly-clearing-up-some-mysteries/ https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/poking-holes-i...