Menu
Donate
SIGN IN
Email
Save
Tweet
Share

Aeon Video has a monthly newsletter!

Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.

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.

Video by 3Blue1Brown

17 January 2020
Email
Save
Tweet
Share

Aeon is not-for-profit and free for everyone

Make a donation

Get Aeon straight to your inbox

Join our newsletter
Eliminative materialism | Aeon
Save

video

Philosophy of mind

Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no

5 minutes

Water worlds | Aeon
Save

video

Space exploration

In the search for life, might alien ocean worlds be a better bet than Earth-like planets?

5 minutes

Eleonore Stump on the problem of evil | Aeon
Save

video

Philosophy of religion

How a devout Catholic philosopher approaches the problem of evil

8 minutes

Drawings of my BF | Aeon
Save

video

Love and friendship

When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love

7 minutes

Our ark | Aeon
Save

video

Thinkers and theories

Is simulation theory a way to shirk responsibility for the world we’ve created?

13 minutes

WoodSwimmer | Aeon
Save

video

Biology

A dazzling slice-by-slice exploration of wood exposes hidden patterns and hues

2 minutes

How to design architecture for wildlife | Aeon
Save

video

Architecture

Modern architecture should embrace – not ignore or repel – the nonhuman world

8 minutes

Three ways to think about free will | Aeon
Save

video

Philosophy of mind

We may never settle the ‘free will’ debate, but tapping into it is still worthwhile

32 minutes

Time travel in Britain’s lost rainforests | Aeon
Save

video

Ecology and environmental sciences

In an ancient English rainforest, John creates charcoal and cultivates growth

12 minutes