1. Bayesian decision theory

In their classic book , Duda and Hart consider RDF from the historical perspective of the automation of perceptual tasks. They write "Today the ability of machines to perceive their environment is very limited... The apparent ease with which vertebrates or even insects perform perceptual tasks is both encouraging and frustrating. In reality, we don't really know how we do it, as the processes involved in these ongoing tasks are not conscious. The field of perception is thus singularly fascinating, because while we are all experts in perception none of us knows how we do it."

For his part, K. Fukunaga (in...