Trapped Priors As A Basic Problem Of Rationality

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P(A|B) = [P(A)*P(B|A)]/P(B), all the rest is commentary.

Introduction and review Last month I talked about van der Bergh et al’s work on the precision of sensory evidence, which introduced the idea of a trapped prior. I think this concept has far-reaching implications for the rationalist project as a whole. I want to re-derive it, explain it more intuitively, then talk about why it might be relevant for things like intellectual, political and religious biases. To review: the brain combines raw experience (eg sensations, memories) with context (eg priors, expectations, other related sensations and memories) to produce perceptions. You don’t…

Trapped Priors As A Basic Problem Of Rationality

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