William M. Briggs

Short New York Real Estate Because of Global Warming?

Stevey Cohen, head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, wants you to short New York City real estate. He doesn't actually say that---Stevey isn't a broker and his statements…

Fun Statistics

There Are No Left-Handed Catchers, Pitchers Are Tall: Baseball Biometrics

No Major League team employs, on its active 25-man roster, a left-handed throwing catcher. About 9 percent of people are lefties, and 63 men in baseball are listed as catchers,…

Fun

Easter Egg Hunt

Hidden in this post is an Easter Egg. Easter it is, of course; and so the egg's theme is appropriate for this day. It's not the most cleverly designed puzzle.…

Culture Fun

Top 10 Manly Jobs: Popular Mechanics’ Cool Gigs List

Popular Mechanics published a list of four dozen or so "Coolest Gigs on Earth." They ought to have said "manliest." This isn't The Atlantic or Time. This is Popular Mechanics!…

Statistics

Gladwell, Gottman, and Abraham on Predicting Divorce

Despite the best efforts of their wives, some married men remain recalcitrant and uncooperative. They refuse to or are incapable of taking their training seriously. Some of these men, who…

Fun

Obamacare & Climate Change: Temperature, Health Targets

There it was, hidden on page 1,323 of the 2,700-page health care bill: a proposal to define the ideal climate for the Continental United States and Alaska. For no reason…

Statistics

“Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change” Lovelock

James Lovelock knows of what he speaks: personal experience allows him to say that a lot of humans aren't that bright. But Lovelock forgets that while there are many---half!---who are…

Philosophy

What Do Philosophers Believe? Survey: Part II

Read Part I. Epistemic justification: internalism or externalism? 43% went with externalism, about 26% with internalism. It is impossible to write about this without sounding goofy or repetitive. Briefly, internalism…

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…
John Pate on Prominent Academic Asks: When And How Did Statistics Lose Its Way? November 23, 2024
You're a bit hard on old R.A. I vaguely remember reading one of his books. What killed statistics was software,…
John Pate on The Impossibilities Of Quantum ComputingNovember 23, 2024
String Theorists can make a good living with nonsense, so can Quantum Computer enthusiasts. You've just got to hand wave…

William M. Briggs

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

Addicted To Drug — Statistics