Neural Nets: A Categorical Affirmative Means No Exceptions
August 21, 2015
The opening sentence of “A Visual Proof That Neural Nets Can Compute Any Function” is a Duesy. Here it is:
One of the most striking facts about neural networks is that they can compute any function at all.
I am okay with neural nets, but I struggle against statements which assert universalities like “any function at all.”
There are fancy terms for this type of error; for example, formal fallacy.
What’s troubling is that the use of “all,” “every,” “any,” and other umbrella terms seem to be more common than Ashley Madison customer names.
Textbooks which “teach” that something works for “any function” accelerate generalization as a standard operating procedure.
Untidy? Yep.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2015
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