(Adapted from Pearl [Pearl:1988].) Suppose you are a witness to a
nighttime hit-and-run accident involving a taxi in Athens. All taxis in
Athens are blue or green. You swear, under oath, that the taxi was blue.
Extensive testing shows that, under the dim lighting conditions,
discrimination between blue and green is 75% reliable.
1. Is it possible to calculate the most likely color for the taxi? (*Hint:* distinguish carefully between the proposition that the taxi *is* blue and the proposition that it *appears* blue.)
2. What if you know that 9 out of 10 Athenian taxis are green?
1. Is it possible to calculate the most likely color for the taxi? (*Hint:* distinguish carefully between the proposition that the taxi *is* blue and the proposition that it *appears* blue.)
2. What if you know that 9 out of 10 Athenian taxis are green?
(Adapted from Pearl [Pearl:1988].) Suppose you are a witness to a
nighttime hit-and-run accident involving a taxi in Athens. All taxis in
Athens are blue or green. You swear, under oath, that the taxi was blue.
Extensive testing shows that, under the dim lighting conditions,
discrimination between blue and green is 75% reliable.
1. Is it possible to calculate the most likely color for the taxi?
(*Hint:* distinguish carefully between the proposition
that the taxi *is* blue and the proposition that it
*appears* blue.)
2. What if you know that 9 out of 10 Athenian taxis are green?