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Bayesian stats book banned in China

stat.columbia.edu

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Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#11

Post by mayank »

[deleted] wrote: post #7
pmichaud wrote: post #3

Is there any way to find out the specific reason the book was not allowed to be published?

[deleted]

I would seriously doubt this is the reason. If you want to learn applied Bayesian stats, you go to a machine learning or game theory conference or read research papers. There are plenty of Chinese citizens doing both, including low-level university students, so this really can't be the reason.

I would think that the reason has something to do with objectionable content inside this specific book, perhaps in an example problem as another commenter noted.

Bayesian stats have been around for a very long time, and it's senseless to try to block textbook-level access to it, unless you're really trying to block just the textbook itself.

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#12

Post by Symmetry »

mayank wrote: post #11
[deleted] wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

I would seriously doubt this is the reason. If you want to learn applied Bayesian stats, you go to a machine learning or game theory conference or read research papers. There are plenty of Chinese citizens doing both, including low-level university students, so this really can't be the reason. I would think that the reason has something to do with objectionable content inside this specific book, perhaps in an example…

On the other hand, nothing says that the China censorship mechanism has to be consistent, in fact I'd almost expect them to be arbitrary and capricious.

It might be that whatever individual decided to ban this book would also have wanted to ban other the things you mention if they had been aware of them.

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#13

Post by llimllib »

younata wrote: post #6
pmichaud wrote: post #3

Is there any way to find out the specific reason the book was not allowed to be published?

The author doesn't know, but he hypothesizes that it's because "the idea of prior distribution [is] contrary to Communism".

Pretty sure he was joking there?

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#14

Post by disponsible »

younata wrote: post #6
pmichaud wrote: post #3

Is there any way to find out the specific reason the book was not allowed to be published?

The author doesn't know, but he hypothesizes that it's because "the idea of prior distribution [is] contrary to Communism".

I'm pretty sure it has to do with the material of examples used in the book rather than with the actual theory.

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#15

Post by niels_olson »

mayank wrote: post #11
[deleted] wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

I would seriously doubt this is the reason. If you want to learn applied Bayesian stats, you go to a machine learning or game theory conference or read research papers. There are plenty of Chinese citizens doing both, including low-level university students, so this really can't be the reason. I would think that the reason has something to do with objectionable content inside this specific book, perhaps in an example…

I apparently double-posted my comment, and deleted the duplicate, your parent, before your post was committed. Sorry about that. I also modified the other version, which, in some sort of karmic reaction, is now dead. Let me

1. Repost the modified dead parent:

> Probably because they're using Bayesian filters on various security fronts: internal threat analysis, the great firewall, whatever side projects some bureaucrat is using to pad his income.

>edit: This is a problem with classification/censorship schemes: the censors/classifiers are all stove-piped, so their decisions come with a high degree of variability. The censor may well have been unaware that this is a whole field of work, or, is aware, but isn't responsible for the censoring decisions about all other related titles.

2. point to Feynman's accounts of censorship at Los Alamos as just how dense censors are: http://goo.gl/nfxqp

Ultimately, I think you're right, this doesn't make sense, except in some colloquial circumstance that is already water under the bridge for the actors.

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#16

Post by raganwald »

kia wrote: post #5

I didn't realize that things in China are that crazy...

"Bayesian Statistics are just a theory. Teachers should be required to state this to students and also to give equal time to alternate theories, such as the theory of Intelligent Predetermination."

Are things in China that crazy?

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#17

Post by mayank »

Symmetry wrote: post #12
mayank wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would seriously doubt this is the reason. If you want to learn applied Bayesian stats, you go to a machine learning or game theory conference or read research papers. There are plenty of Chinese citizens doing both, including low-level university students, so this really can't be the reason. I would think that the reason has something to do with objectionable content inside this specific book, perhaps in an example…

On the other hand, nothing says that the China censorship mechanism has to be consistent, in fact I'd almost expect them to be arbitrary and capricious. It might be that whatever individual decided to ban this book would also have wanted to ban other the things you mention if they had been aware of them.

If they try to ban Chinese citizens from international conferences and journals in anything related to Bayesian methods, I can tell you firsthand that a lot of math/CS/ML/AI conferences will shrivel up quite a bit. They won't die, but it'll be like the Cold War, where Russian mathematicians made advances that were insulated from the west for many years, and vice versa. A net loss for everyone, especially in a topic as fundamental as Bayesian methods.

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#18

Post by Alex3917 »

llimllib wrote: post #13
younata wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author doesn't know, but he hypothesizes that it's because "the idea of prior distribution [is] contrary to Communism".

Pretty sure he was joking there?

It seems like a joke at first, but once you take into account China's previous actions it's actually quite likely.

Re: Bayesian stats book banned in China

#20

Post by jdminhbg »

raganwald wrote: post #16
kia wrote: post #5

I didn't realize that things in China are that crazy...

"Bayesian Statistics are just a theory. Teachers should be required to state this to students and also to give equal time to alternate theories, such as the theory of Intelligent Predetermination." Are things in China that crazy?

Unless you are forbidden to publish books on Evolution in the US, then yes, things in China are that crazy.
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