AshwinV comments on Searching for Bayes-Structure - Less Wrong
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Comments (44)
Eliezer - Bayesian theory is a model. It isn't the universe. This is where you will be losing most of your readers - yes, you can express anything in Bayesian terms. You can express anything in C, too - this doesn't mean the universe is a program, and it doesn't provide any fundamental insight into how the universe works.
Bayesianism, has the potential to go beyond just a means of expression and become a tool for decision making as well. Expressing a problem in Bayesian terms will lead to insights that will help you in solving the problem. Writing the same problem in C, may not do the same.
I dont know jack shit (like zilch, absolute zero) about programming, but I think there's a way to explain this. You can express anything in C, and make it functionally representative of a particular model.If you had to model the entire universe that way, you probably would use some structure in your code that is very representative of a bayesian model (I actually mean exactly like a bayesian model.) In this case, your merely writing the underlying principle (which happens to be Bayesian) in C.