Chapter 4: Independence and Bayesian Networks

Overview

Mad, adj.: Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence.

—Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

In this chapter I examine a notion that has been studied in depth in the context of probability—independence—and then consider how it can be captured in some of the other notions of uncertainty that we have been considering. In the process, I also discuss Bayesian networks, an important tool for describing likelihood measures succinctly and working with them.