William M. Briggs

Yuval Harari’s Homo Deus: Marketing The Materialist World View — Guest Post by Jaap Hanekamp

Reading your typical book is like sitting on the grandstand of a racetrack. You see the race cars whizzing by, and you sort of feel the excitement of the race,…

Statistics

Let’s Look At All Cause Deaths Again

It's been a while since we looked at all-cause deaths (some of this is for the new readers). This is the one statistic that can't be cooked or juiced; or…

Culture

Take This Fun Political Quiz Inspired By Canadian Truckers

QUIZ Test your knowledge of politics and political theory with this Fun Quiz! 1. Name the form of government in which it is illegal to criticize the regime. 2. Define…

SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: Christ Was Not The Holy Ghost’s Human Son

Previous post. Combining two weeks into one, the lessons being so short. THAT CHRIST WAS NOT THE SON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE FLESH 1 Now, although Christ is…

Culture

Experts—Trust Them!—Discover Coronadoom Misinformation Causes Depressive Symptoms

Gettin' bad out there, friends. Lot of people poppin' happy pills. Pills, that is, designed by Experts to make them happy. Or what Experts say passes for happy. Pills that,…

Philosophy Statistics

Solved: The Best Bayesian Prior To Use In Every Situation

Kevin Gray is back with another question, this time about priors. His last led to the post "Was Fisher Wrong? Whether Or Not Statistical Models Are Needed." (The answer was…

Book review

Celebrity Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson Speaks — Excerpt From Everything You Believe Is Wrong

This excerpt comes in Chapter 20, Science. First comes the Science Is Self-Correcting Fallacy, followed by the My Grant Was Funded Therefore My Theory Is True Fallacy, which is a…

Statistics

There Was No Panic In The Similar 1957-58 Pandemic; But Panic Galore For Coronadoom

There is much fun contrasting earlier approaches to pandemics and our Great Global Panic, now entering it's third---and final?---year. Let's take the 1957-1958 Asian (the novel H2N2) flu, the worst…

C-Marie on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
Very fun, Matt!! God bless, C-Marie
Philip Rogan on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
May be showing my lack of IQ: 2 + 2 = 4; 4 x 2 = 8. 5 + 5…
NLR on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
You explained the point clearly, that any question involves assumptions about its meaning and how it should be answered. If…
Cary D Cotterman on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
In the absence of knowing if the author intended some more complex formula, and what it might be, the simplest…
Brian (bulaoren) on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
72! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! I think that puzzle would have been more legitimate if the…

William M. Briggs

The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of Answers

Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?

No Model Will Save Us: Pope Leo, the Miserostat, and AI’s Woke Coders

How High an IQ Must A Person Have To Be Executed?

Class 90: Simple (Optimal) Decisions

Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living Longer

Blessed Memorial Day; No Class; See You Wednesday

Why There Are (Probably) No UFOs: “Climate Change”

Creating Microbial Monsters To Terrorize Ourselves

Class 89: The Measure Most Modelers Forget: Skill Examples

The Shocking Conclusion of the HR Trilemma!

The HR Trilemma: Which Door Decides Your Fate?

Capital Punishment Deters Crime More Than The Death Penalty

How Experts Use “Calamities” to Find Official Victims & Gain Power

Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI Pachinko

Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: Skill

The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising Answer

UFO Reports About To Blast Off!

Class 87: Calibration & Conformal Prediction: Examples

Noticing Differences Between Races Does Not Pay

What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?