04/2017

I’m a bit of an anachronism: born in the 1980s but with aesthetic preferences closely aligned with much earlier times. For music, I prefer Chopin, Mozart, and Handel (or Schubert, Haydn, and Bach) over my contemporaries. For literature & theater, I prefer James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and Shakespeare. And even for Hollywood film, I prefer Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, and Tarantino (a very nostalgic contemporary).

This says nothing about my contemporaries. It merely says that I have a larger sampling frame from earlier times than from the present. But it does place some demands on my contemporaries — if at all they are after my soul: they would have to offer me something that is not a mere duplication of things past, not a mere reinvention of the wheel, and — more importantly — something that fully acknowledges our forebears.

As a clinical researcher, it should surprise no one that my fealty is to the Bayesian school. Unlike those that make statistical inferences purely on the basis of data from a given study — those from the Frequentist school, the Bayesian approach treats new data as a means of updating prior beliefs. This is not a purely empirical exercise because no two studies have interchangeable populations or analytical methods; instead it is a substantive judgement that takes into consideration nuanced knowledge from science, epidemiology, and statistical theory.

Subjectivity is always a risk, given the form in which “prior beliefs” exist. The Bayesian approach builds a complete picture from elements — part belief, part empiric, part conjecture — in the way that a poet inductively conjures into existence new worlds. Maybe this makes Frequentists an indispensable counterpoint, deductively balancing out inferences made by Bayesians.

But for me it will always be the leitmotifs, the enduring patterns, and the elements that link past, present, and future. These represent a convergence of technology (invented leitmotifs), humanities (archetypal patterns), and science (anatomized elements). What possible harm might come from parsimony?

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Daedalus = Happiness

Haha!!

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Klotho

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Donald J Trump

Golfer-in-Chief
Tweeter-in-Chief
Whiner-In-Chief

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Listen, listen, listen

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My K08 should draw blood (with a 1/100 score)

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Engoma Dhatemwa Kulala
Dhavughana Mibaka

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this is a desperate measure, but also a measure of our desperation

bauer has to be sacrificed so that this nation can survive

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Chelsea
Tottenham
Man. City
Man. United

Liverpool (66) +3 games
Arsenal (57)