William M. Briggs

A Sermon You Won’t Forget: The Exorcist at 40

The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition by William Peter Blatty If you're only familiar with the (original, 1973 version of the) movie, it might surprise you that The Exorcist is…

Fun

Taiwan’s Nan-Men Market å—é–€å¸‚å ´

Time to go shopping! On Sunday I strolled through the bustling Nan-men market which is on the far side of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The basement is crammed with…

Statistics

Two New Papers vs. BEST: Guest Post by Lüdecke, Link, and Ewert

Horst Lüdecke is a Professor of Physiker in EIKE, European Institute for Climate and Energy, Heidelberg; Dr. Link is a physicist with EIKE; Prof. Dr. Friedrich-Karl Ewert is a geologist…

Statistics

BEST And The Wall Street Journal’s Numbers Guy

Carl Bialik, the Wall Street Journal's Numbers Guy, has two columns about BEST's temperature reconstruction model: "Global Temperatures: All Over the Map" and "A New Trove of Global Temperature Numbers").…

Statistics

The Twinkie Defense Defended: Soda Pop And Violence In Teens

In 1979, Dan White1 was tried for the assassinations of San Francisco city district Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. His lawyers argued that he had diminished capacity and…

Fun Statistics

Counterfactuals And Woodchuck Probability Distributions

I have, with mechanical aid, again winged my way across the globe in search of treasure. I landed disoriented and would not trust myself to calculate even the integral of…

Fun

A Final Solution To The Financial Crisis: Guest Post by Uncle Mike

Welcome to our WISE Uncle Mike, who provides for our review a unique idea to solve the world's financial mess. Greek residents will want to pay particular attention. Your Host…

Fun Philosophy Statistics

Best Statistics Question Ever

Several readers have sent this one in1. One Raymond Johnson (or was it Ryan Grover?) said he found the following picture on this blackboard (I pulled my copy from Flowing…

John M on Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living LongerMay 28, 2026
The research and studies about reversing Alzheimer's and other dementia is amazing. It will have a big impact on longevity…
C-Marie on Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living LongerMay 28, 2026
Once a woman becomes pregnant, she is a mother, and the man who gave his sperm is a father. When…
Gail Finke on Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living LongerMay 27, 2026
Guttmacher's numbers of pre-Roe abortions are hugely inflated. They had an interest in making those numbers higher (convincing people that…
Johnno on Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living LongerMay 27, 2026
Well, hopefully they enjoy those longer lives while they last, because there is an eternity in Hell waiting for them…
~Nona on Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living LongerMay 27, 2026
Self-serving comment? Maybe. BUT it was really interesting to read. As a child I lived next door to a centenarian.…

William M. Briggs

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?

Class 86: Calibration & Conformal Prediction: Theory

How A Miracle Turns Mundane

Contest Winner Announced!

Trump’s Last Stand: Mea Culpa, Redux — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Class 90: Simple (Optimal) Decisions

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

A Sermon You Won’t Forget: The Exorcist at 40

Taiwan’s Nan-Men Market å—é–€å¸‚å ´

Two New Papers vs. BEST: Guest Post by Lüdecke, Link, and Ewert

BEST And The Wall Street Journal’s Numbers Guy

The Twinkie Defense Defended: Soda Pop And Violence In Teens

Counterfactuals And Woodchuck Probability Distributions

A Final Solution To The Financial Crisis: Guest Post by Uncle Mike

Best Statistics Question Ever

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