William M. Briggs

Rousseau And The New York Times

It All Started With Rousseau 'The General Will is always righteous.' Moreover, provided the State is 'well-intentioned'...interpretation of the General Will can safely be left to the leaders since 'they…

Culture

Faith In Climate Catastrophe

A recent article at Real Climate (linked from BoingBoing) informed its faithful that they, the writers and site leaders "Michael Tobis and Scott Mandia with input from Gavin Schmidt, Michael…

Philosophy

The Pope And The Big Bang

It seemed to some that Pope Benedict claimed in this year's Epiphany sermon that modern science helps explain God's existence. "Contemplating [the universe] we are invited to read something profound…

Statistics

What Is A “Climate Change Skeptic”? Assist With Definition

As requested by Richard Drake and J Ferguson, who began a conversation on a similar topic last week, this new post asks what is the best "opinion poll-ready definition of…

Culture Statistics

New York’s Induced Terminations Of Pregnancy

New York City's Health Department (motto: It's for your own good!) released its annual birth and death statistics, and the internet is aflutter, particularly over the numbers on abortion. "Raw"…

Culture Statistics

Internet Porn Reduces Rape?

I want to be charitable. I really do. But as I reviewed the paper "Pornography, Rape, and the Internet" by Clemson professor Todd Kendall (author of "Celebrity Misbehavior in the…

Philosophy Statistics

Ivy League Climate Skeptics

I received this email from Rob Fishman at the Huffington Post. My answer follows. I'm the social media editor here at HuffPost (and a Cornell alum). I came across your…

Fun

Ecoheroes For the Climate Join Global Warming Superheroes!

Remember Global Warming Superheroes? A site where I---cough, cough---made villain of the day? While glancing through my logs, I was led to Timberati: Reasonably green thoughts. The folks there were…

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…
BadThinker on Mark Twain On The Dictatorship Of HealthNovember 24, 2024
And of course Health now also means "medically assisted dying" for those deemed unfit or sad or too white.
Uncle Mike on Mark Twain On The Dictatorship Of HealthNovember 23, 2024
I wish to be clear. I don't need RFKJ or anybody else telling me what I may or may not…
spaceranger on Mark Twain On The Dictatorship Of HealthNovember 23, 2024
I think it was Twain who said that if you don't maintain at least a few bad habits to get…

William M. Briggs

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

Class 26: Randomization Does Nothing