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0 pointsjuskrey8y ago0 comments

Is it always the case that more variables are necessary better? After some sweet spot, with more variables false correlations increase exponentially.

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2 comments · 1 top-level

jacksnipe8y ago· 1 in thread

I believe that scaling would be quadratic; but yes, more features (variables) isn't always better.

However, you can't know which features carry information until you collect and analyze them. For a problem like fraud -- where "expert" input probably would not allow you to figure out which features you need ahead of time -- it was almost certainly more reasonable to gather all the data and then, after the fact, perform feature selection[1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_selection

rbres8y ago

++ exactly right

- Collect as much as possible

- Figure out what features are worthwhile

- Focus on those features

Our competitors have an extremely narrow lens into all the data around a transaction. We've found things that they'll never find or even have access to in the first place. Blog posts to come here as well.

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