What is it to be Bayesian?

The (pretty simple) math modelling behind a Big Data

buzzword

If you’ve ever tripped up over the term ‘Bayesian’ while reading up on data
or tech, fear not. Strip away the jargon and notation, and even the
mathematics-averse can make sense of the simple yet revolutionary
concept at the core of both machine learning and behavioural economics.
As this video from the YouTube channel 3Blue1Brown skilfully explains, at
its most basic, Bayes’s theorem is a tool for assessing degrees of probability
based on prior conditions. And there are ways to make it altogether more
intuitive than the statistical formulas might suggest. Although the theorem
dates back to its 18th-century namesake, the English statistician and
philosopher Thomas Bayes, it has gained increasing relevance in the Big
Data revolution.

Bayes theorem, and making probability intuitive

Video by 3Blue1Brown
17 January, 2020

https://aeon.co/videos/what-is-it-to-be-bayesian-the-pretty-simple-math-modelling-
behind-a-big-data-buzzword

Video transcription:

The goal is for you to come away from this video understanding one of the most
important formulas in all the probability: Bayes’ theorem.

This formula is central to scientific discovery, it’s a core tool in machine learning and IA,
and it’s even been used for treasury hunting, when in the 80’a a small team led by Tommy
Thompson used Bayesian search tactics to help uncover a ship that had sunk a century and
a half earlier carrying what, in today’s terms, amounts to $700.000.000 worth of gold.

So the formula worths understanding but of course there are multiple different levels of
understanding