Conferring doubt

Faith, Hope and Doubt

1 Beyond reasonable doubt

T he Internet is a wonderful research tool. With the click of a mouse, you can beam yourself into what seems an infinite number of important lectures by eminent thinkers around the world. Just such an opportunity awaits if you search for Richard A. Muller, professor of physics at the University of California, berkeley. The results of such a search include a video of Professor Muller castigating...

Designing for Doubt

Vast quantities of data are collected about us and our world: credit card transactions, movements and traffic flows, social networks, disease outbreaks, bird migrations, and flowers blossoming. These datasets span a wide range of public and private information and contexts. However, it is the emergence of a host of mobile phone based citizen sensing platforms that is poised to become the domina...

When in Doubt ... Be Indecisive

For a presented case, a Bayesian network classifier in essence computes a posterior probability distribution over its class variable. Based upon this distribution, the classifier’s classification function returns a single, determinate class value and thereby hides the uncertainty involved. To provide reliable decision support, however, the classifier should be able to convey indecisiveness if t...

Doubt about antidepressant-like effect

Dear Editor: Extensive studies have measured antidepressant-like effects of chemical compounds to discover new drugs for depression treatment or to clarify the molecular mechanisms of depression. Most useful anti-depressants including tricyclics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (NRIs), serotonin and noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitors (SNRIs), a...