I would venture that a zero prior is often (though not always) applied (in practice, though not in theory) to theories that defy the known laws of a given age. Basically, some people will go to their graves before updating their priors about some theory or another, including notable scientists. It seems reasonable to model such instances as a case where someone had a zero prior, which then leads such people to struggle with perceived impossibilities.
Now, I'd like to point out that scientists and philosophers have in the past been placed in a position where... (read more)
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1Stuart_Armstrong
That's slightly different - society reaching the right conclusion, despite some members of it being irredeemably wrong.
A closer analogy would be a believer in psychics or the supernatural who has lots of excuses ready to explain away experiments - their expectations have changed even if they haven't revived their beliefs.
I would venture that a zero prior is often (though not always) applied (in practice, though not in theory) to theories that defy the known laws of a given age. Basically, some people will go to their graves before updating their priors about some theory or another, including notable scientists. It seems reasonable to model such instances as a case where someone had a zero prior, which then leads such people to struggle with perceived impossibilities.
Now, I'd like to point out that scientists and philosophers have in the past been placed in a position where... (read more)