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Looking at the equation for Bayes' Theorem .
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
=
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
+
Pr
(
B
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A
′
)
Pr
(
A
′
)
{\displaystyle \Pr(A|B)={\frac {\Pr(B|A)\,\Pr(A)}{\Pr(B|A)\Pr(A)+\Pr(B|A^{'})\Pr(A^{'})}}\!}
Assume that
Pr
(
A
′
)
=
1
−
Pr
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \Pr(A^{'})=1-\Pr(A)}
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
=
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
+
Pr
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B
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′
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−
Pr
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Pr
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{\displaystyle \Pr(A|B)={\frac {\Pr(B|A)\,\Pr(A)}{\Pr(B|A)\Pr(A)+\Pr(B|A^{'})-\Pr(B|A^{'})\Pr(A)}}\!}
↓
{\displaystyle \downarrow }
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
=
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
(
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
−
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
)
Pr
(
A
)
+
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
{\displaystyle \Pr(A|B)={\frac {\Pr(B|A)\,\Pr(A)}{(\Pr(B|A)-\Pr(B|A^{'}))\Pr(A)+\Pr(B|A^{'})}}\!}
↓
{\displaystyle \downarrow }
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
=
1
(
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
−
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
)
Pr
(
A
)
+
Pr
(
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|
A
′
)
{\displaystyle {\frac {\Pr(A|B)}{\Pr(B|A)\,\Pr(A)}}={\frac {1}{(\Pr(B|A)-\Pr(B|A^{'}))\Pr(A)+\Pr(B|A^{'})}}\!}
↓
{\displaystyle \downarrow }
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
)
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
=
(
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
−
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
)
Pr
(
A
)
+
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
{\displaystyle {\frac {\Pr(B|A)\,\Pr(A)}{\Pr(A|B)}}=(\Pr(B|A)-\Pr(B|A^{'}))\Pr(A)+\Pr(B|A^{'})\!}
↓
{\displaystyle \downarrow }
Pr
(
A
)
[
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
−
(
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
−
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
)
]
=
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
{\displaystyle \Pr(A)\left[{\frac {\Pr(B|A)}{\Pr(A|B)}}-(\Pr(B|A)-\Pr(B|A^{'}))\right]=\Pr(B|A^{'})\!}
↓
{\displaystyle \downarrow }
Pr
(
A
)
=
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
−
(
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
−
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
)
{\displaystyle \Pr(A)={\frac {\Pr(B|A^{'})}{{\frac {\Pr(B|A)}{\Pr(A|B)}}-(\Pr(B|A)-\Pr(B|A^{'}))}}\!}
Now assume that a positive integer number X (between 1 and 1 million) is picked at random.
let
A
{\displaystyle A\,}
be "X is divisible by 2"
and
let
B
{\displaystyle B\,}
be "X is divisible by 4"
We have
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
=
0
{\displaystyle \Pr(B|A^{'})=0}
Thus
Pr
(
A
)
=
0
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
Pr
(
A
|
B
)
−
(
Pr
(
B
|
A
)
−
Pr
(
B
|
A
′
)
)
{\displaystyle \Pr(A)={\frac {0}{{\frac {\Pr(B|A)}{\Pr(A|B)}}-(\Pr(B|A)-\Pr(B|A^{'}))}}\!}
↓
{\displaystyle \downarrow }
Pr
(
A
)
=
0
{\displaystyle \Pr(A)=0\!}
Therefore if we pick a positive integer between 1 and 1 million at random, the number we pick will not be an even number.
This is of course WRONG! But I can't see where the mistake is.
You can have fun with this:
let
A
{\displaystyle A\,}
be "George Bush is an American"
and
let
B
{\displaystyle B\,}
be "George Bush is the president of the United States"
202.168.50.40 22:59, 28 November 2006 (UTC) [ reply ]
Hint. At some point, rather late in your derivation, you take a step of the form ab = c → a = c /b . Then you conclude that c = 0 implies a = 0. But if you substitute c := 0 in the equation ab = c , it becomes ab = 0. You cannot conclude from there to a = 0. --Lambiam Talk 23:32, 28 November 2006 (UTC) [ reply ]