Bayesianism versus Critical Rationalism

Jayson_Virissimo

I have just rediscovered an article by Max Albert on my hard drive which I never got around to reading that might interest others on Less Wrong. You can find the article here. It is an argument against Bayesianism and for Critical Rationalism (of Karl Popper fame).

Abstract:

Economists claim that principles of rationality are normative principles. Nevertheless,
they go on to explain why it is in a person’s own interest to be rational. If this were true,
being rational itself would be a means to an end, and rationality could be interpreted in
a non-normative or naturalistic way. The alternative is not attractive: if the only argument
in favor of principles of rationality were their intrinsic appeal, a commitment to
rationality would be irrational, making the notion of rationality self-defeating. A comprehensive
conception of rationality should recommend itself: it should be rational to be
rational. Moreover, since rational action requires rational beliefs concerning means-ends
relations, a naturalistic conception of rationality has to cover rational belief formation including
the belief that it is rational to be rational. The paper considers four conceptions
of rationality and asks whether they can deliver the goods: Bayesianism, perfect rationality
(just in case that it differs from Bayesianism), ecological rationality (as a version of
bounded rationality), and critical rationality, the conception of rationality characterizing
critical rationalism.

Any thoughts?

A good nutshell description of the type of Bayesianism that many LWers think correct is objective Bayesianism with critical rationalism-like underpinnings. Where recursive justification hits bottom is particularly relevant. On my cursory skim, Albert only seems to be addressing "subjective" Bayesianism which allows for any choice of prior.

4XiXiDu15y

For people like me who have no clue, if you scroll down a bit here there is a comparison (so you get a vague idea): * Subjective Bayesians emphasize the relative lack of rational constraints on prior probabilities. * Objective Bayesians (e.g., Jaynes and Rosenkrantz) emphasize the extent to which prior probabilities are rationally constrained. More here: And of course Critical rationalism: * Critical rationalism explicitly proposes a third decision rule for rational belief formation: it is rational to believe a hypothesis if it has so far withstood serious criticism better than its competitors.

5Matt_Simpson15y

I'll add that a decent summary of the position espoused in Where recursive justification hits bottom (linked in the grandparent) is that critical rationalism (or something like it) entails objective Bayesianism. It both entails the use of Baye's rule to update on information and it entails a set of correct priors.

1Jayson_Virissimo15y

Thanks for helping me realize that Critical Rationalism and Bayesianism can be compliments rather than substitutes.

2Elliot Temple15y

FYI that is a misleading statement of Critical Rationalism. For one thing, Popper was not a "belief philosopher" so he wouldn't have stated it quite like that. There are a lot of misleading statements about CR floating around. Most come from its opponents trying to make sense of it on their own terms. In trying to formulate it in a way that makes sense given their anti-CR premises, they change it. It's best to read primary sources for this.

It seems to think the problem of the priors does in Bayesianism :-(

Popper seems outdated. Rejecting induction completely is not very realistic.

2Jayson_Virissimo15y

Critical Rationalism has advanced somewhat since Popper. I think Hume would agree.

2timtyler15y

Not very significantly. The revolution happened mostly without them.

5Jayson_Virissimo15y

After reconsidering your statement, I have come to agree.

1Elliot Temple15y

Who do you think advanced CR? I think only David Deutsch has improved on Popper.

2Jayson_Virissimo15y

I had in mind Miller and Deutsch.

2Elliot Temple15y

Which Miller publication or argument?

5Jayson_Virissimo15y

Critical Rationalism: A Restatement and Defense and Out of Error: Further Essays On Critical Rationalism.

1Elliot Temple15y

Thanks I ordered them. I'd only read individual articles of his.

-2[anonymous]15y

Hume would agree because he never accepted the full force of his own argument. He couldn't imagine how people can create knowledge without induction even though he could see that induction is impossible. It took Popper to explain how knowledge can be created without induction.

If Solomonoff Induction does not discard theories inconsistent with the data, then this is wrong:

http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Solomonoff_induction

Whether it does or does not isn't important to the main argument here.

Critics might have a role to play for a resource-limited agent - for instance if they pointed out explanations that were short and were not yet receiving the proper consideration - or if they supplied more data.

If consistent data makes a theory more probable, I might have expected a theory that has survived (non-empirical) criticism to become more probable. Because you are an empiricist, you relegate criticism to a minor role when in fact criticism is a major driving force in science. Most theories don't get tested empirically, they are refuted by criticism alone. Critical rationalism knows this.

Also some theories can't be refuted by empirical means, so what does Solomonoff Induction do about those?

It says to prefer the shorter one.

Is that it? And how is the algorithm supposed to work anyway? If the theory is non-empirical, it can't be a compression of an empirical dataset.

Because you are an empiricist, you relegate criticism to a minor role when in fact criticism is a major driving force in science.

Checking with the definition that apparently boils down to whether I think there is much innate knowledge. Humans have some innate knowledge, so I figure: probably not an empiricist.

I have no particular beef with criticism. Solomonoff induction is not given as a model of how humans actually do science. It is given as a formalisation of the maths of induction.

And how is the algorithm supposed to work anyway? If the theory

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