Statistics – Page 286 – William M. Briggs

Postmodernism and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

Since I am, by nature, a compassionate individual, I had been thinking of how we might Sokal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). It is for their…

Statistics

Feigned Surprises of the Week: Journolist and Our New Tax

Said the main-stream journalist on Journolist, "If they of the right wing don't behave and treat our Golden Boy properly, we'll call them racists. It matters not whom we pick…

Fun Statistics

A Bust—I mean must—Read; Or, An Evolution in Bra Sizes

"Excuse me, miss. Would you care to participate in science?" Sometimes being a statistician is enviable. In a flash of scientific brilliance, Australian statisticians have just completed a massive study…

Fun Statistics

M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, and John Wayne

Part II of the Two-Envelope problem was not too friendly, so here's something that is. Via HotAir, I came across the site Marginal Revolution, in which was featured a graph…

Philosophy Statistics

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part II

Read Part I first. We are in the peek first game here. The distribution of N When X is odd, and all X are discrete, we know we should always…

Philosophy Statistics

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part I

Another probability "paradox", the two-envelope problem1, goes like this: Before you are two envelopes, A and B. One of them contains $X and the other $2X (which is equivalent to…

Statistics

St Petersburg Paradox; Games and Statistical Decisions; RIP David Blackwell

David Blackwell, who died two weeks ago, was one of the first mainstream statisticians to "go Bayesian." And for that and his unique skill in clearly explaining difficult ideas, we…

Statistics

How to Fool Yourself—And Others—With Statistics

See the news box to the left. I wrote this long ago and never used it. I do not love it. But since I am so busy, I haven't the…

Rudolph Harrier on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 6, 2025
I think the problem is that many people want to have a consistent process above all else. They don't want…
John Pate on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 5, 2025
You would have been in your element Briggs. I was quite heavily into the statistics nonsense at the time due…
Briggs on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 5, 2025
John, Now that's very interesting. I would have loved to have heard that talk.
John Pate on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 5, 2025
This is why I laughed at the nonsense about Casinos using probability. All they care about is the House wins…
Brian (bulaoren) on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 4, 2025
So, after a full day, nobody has commented. Well, I tried to wade through it all but, as William Safire…