Event Dime

The Masochistic Prior

When:

June 5, 2026 · 7:05 PM

Where:

A review of Where Is My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall — LessWrong

Source:

A review of Where Is My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall — LessWrong

In Bayesian statistics there’s the concept of the Uniform Prior - in the absence of evidence, assume all options are equally likely to be true. I often find myself using an alternative strategy, which I’ll dub “the masochistic prior” - in the absence of evidence, whichever option is most painful to believe is the best reflection of reality. This can manifest in mundane ways. When I was a struggling university student, blaming ancient professors with thick accents would have been an easy excuse.