William M. Briggs

The Trolley Problem And Experimental Philosophy

The Trolley Problem, as given by Eric Schwitzgebel (as part of a larger survey): You are standing by the railroad tracks when you notice an empty boxcar rolling out of…

Culture Statistics

Wishcasting The End Of The World: Update

Wishcasting is when a forecast or prediction is shaded in the direction the forecaster or predictor wants the event to happen. For example, if you forecast this weekend's weather, you…

Culture

Sin Casa, Sin Curro Y Sin Miedo!

That was the chant of thousands of Spanish youth as they took to the streets last week. The youth---photographic evidence implies a median age of 28---are unhappy with their station…

Culture

City Of Free Love To Ban Circumcision

An enraged citizen's group in San Francisco has submitted legislation that, if passed, would ban abortion---no, wait. I have that wrong. They would ban circumcision. In a fit of Enlightenment…

Culture

Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn Not Guilty!

I have done an, admittedly crude, statistical analysis of rape and sexual harassment accusations of rich and powerful men in politics. I was not interested in whether the accusations were…

Statistics

Can Telomeres Predict How Long You Will Live?

No, they can't. Not exactly, and perhaps not with sufficient precision to be useful to you. But there is a new company called Life Length who will sell you, for…

Philosophy Statistics

Belief In God “Rooted” In Human Nature Say Academics

New research has shown---and by "research" I mean a fact long known to citizens is revealed to academics who attach a p-value to it and publish it---"that suggests that religion…

Fun

Batman Arrested!

Batman---the Dark Knight himself----was found Wednesday night hanging by a thread from the roof of Meyer's Ace Hardware store in Harbor Springs, Michigan. The Petoskey News Review reports that Batman…

Cary Cotterman on How To Read The Paper Claiming Semaglutide Reduces Cardiomyocyte Size and Cardiac MassNovember 26, 2024
I'm just going to avoid the drugs and stick to my very effective old standby--expending more calories than I consume.…
spetzer86 on How To Read The Paper Claiming Semaglutide Reduces Cardiomyocyte Size and Cardiac MassNovember 26, 2024
I'm shocked nobody mentioned the impact of group size in this study. Certainly, any blinded mouse study with more than…
Uncle Mike on How To Read The Paper Claiming Semaglutide Reduces Cardiomyocyte Size and Cardiac MassNovember 26, 2024
My favorite pics are the Christmas trees. Okay. I grant you that Big Pharm is killing America, that Novo Nordisk,…
john b() on The Impossibilities Of Quantum ComputingNovember 25, 2024
Douglas Adams had been laughing at physicists and "Quantum Computing" two years before Yuri Manin and Richard Feynman thought it…
Phileas_Frogg on Mark Twain On The Dictatorship Of HealthNovember 25, 2024
@Uncle Mike Stop bitching. RFK is a flat improvement because of his stance on vaccines alone. His skepticism towards the…

William M. Briggs

How To Read The Paper Claiming Semaglutide Reduces Cardiomyocyte Size and Cardiac Mass

Class 30: Hypothesis Testing Stinks I

Mark Twain On The Dictatorship Of Health

The Impossibilities Of Quantum Computing

What Science Can Say About Vaccines: And What It Can’t Say

Bad Predictions Mean Bad Models, Even If You’re A Distinguished Expert

Class 29: Nothing Has A Distribution

Women Let Him Win — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Trends In Wokeness & Girlbossery In Science

Prominent Academic Asks: When And How Did Statistics Lose Its Way?

Fixing College: Hit Them In The Money, Replace Their Prestige

Class 28: Randomization Redux (Randomization Does Nothing)

If We Are What We Sexually Desire, How About These Curious People?

What The Covid Panic Did To Science

We Win

See You On The Other Side

Class 27: Probability Is In Your Mind, Not Things

How Tim Walz Did Not Know Models Only Say What They’re Told To Say

Hell On Earth: 1978’s Zombie Apocalypse ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ Reviewed

The Decline Of Western Christianity: Gradually Then Suddenly

The Science Of Transitioning Children

How To Read The Paper Claiming Semaglutide Reduces Cardiomyocyte Size and Cardiac Mass

Class 30: Hypothesis Testing Stinks I

The Trolley Problem And Experimental Philosophy

Wishcasting The End Of The World: Update

Sin Casa, Sin Curro Y Sin Miedo!

City Of Free Love To Ban Circumcision

Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn Not Guilty!

Can Telomeres Predict How Long You Will Live?

Belief In God “Rooted” In Human Nature Say Academics

Batman Arrested!

There Is No Culture Without Inequality: Stove 1

Impose Your Beliefs Before They Impose Theirs

Telekinesis: Ideas In Our Reenchantment & Rectification

The Physics Of Blessings: Ideas In Our Reenchantment & Rectification