
The World Is Built on Probability (1988) - tosh
https://archive.org/details/TheWorldIsBuiltOnProbability/
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amarte
Interesting title, and I will have to dip into the book when I have some spare
time, but statements like "the world is built on probability" always sound
strange to me. Is it that chance and randomness are fundamental aspects of our
world, or is it that our knowledge of the world is inherently limited, and the
laws of probability that people have expressed over time are useful
descriptive tools that help us choose or dismiss certain outcomes based on the
knowledge we do have? If the latter is true, I would not say the world is
"built" on probability, but that the way we perceive the world can be built on
probability.

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roenxi
I've been reading a book on the philosophy of statistics, and what is
interesting is that the statistical community has been, historically,
completely divided on that question.

The only thing they agree on is the equations. Once you ask the question of
"and what situation are we facing in the real world" consensus starts to break
down.

Interestingly, the core of probability - the "Random Variable" is almost
completely unobservable in the world of science. Everything in classical
mechanics turned out to be deterministic. The parts that were grappled with
statistics were probably not random effects, but unpredictable deterministic
effects. For example, the measurement errors could be treated as random
variables, but ultimately were not expected to be random in cause.

Compare this to geometry and algebra, where I would argue it is easier to find
a 'real' example right from the get go. Opinions, obviously, vary.

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selestify
Quantum mechanics has a lot of random variables.

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tzakrajs
Cipher text can look a lot like randomness to the uninformed observer. If a
deterministic system produces results, but the observer cannot model the
underlying process from the results, are those results now random?

~~~
cozzyd
Now might be a good time to brush up on
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell's_theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell's_theorem)

~~~
uryga
> "Bell's theorem rules out _local hidden variables_ as a viable explanation
> of quantum mechanics (though it still leaves the door open for _non-local
> hidden variables_ , such as De Broglie–Bohm theory, etc)"

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j1vms
> though it still leaves the door open for non-local hidden variables, such as
> De Broglie–Bohm theory

Though non-local hidden variable theories need to be reconciled with special
relativity lest it be possible to transmit information faster than light.

~~~
leoxvi
Enter the implicate (folded) order of the holoverse ("holographic universe"),
which Bohm (among others) developed and supported.

See the non-local, higher-ordering properties of true holograms and eg. this
mixed fluid experiment: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpJ-
kGII074](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpJ-kGII074)

More on all this in Michael Talbot's amazing book "Holographic Universe":
[https://wikischool.org/book/holographic_universe](https://wikischool.org/book/holographic_universe)

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suzzer99
I majored in physics with a minor in statistics. Both fields massively opened
my eyes to the way the world actually works.

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tobeme
Sounds interesting... who has read it?

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akvadrako
I can't find any fleshed out reviews of this online so it's hard to know what
to expect.

~~~
pm90
Books from Mir Publishers that get translated to english are generally a good
bet (they're Russian publishers from Soviet times). We used many books from
Mir Publishers to learn Science and math in high school, they were all
generally very good. I specifically remember a book called Problems in Physics
by Irodov that I spent many joyous semesters working with.

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itronitron
what are the odds of that?

