Posted inCulture Philosophy
The Closing Of The Scientific Mind
The title was swiped from Commentary Magazine's piece of the same name by David Gelernter, which all should read. Since today is a busy day at the Briggs Ranch, just…
Posted inCulture
Herd Immunity And Christianity
There on that hillock is a herd of cattle, all but one of which is inoculated against hoof-and-mouth disease. Chances are the one beast that escaped vaccination won't fall ill…
Posted inCulture Statistics
HANDY Not So Dandy: NASA-Funded Mathematical Model Of Doom
Mathematically minded Remember back in the 1990s when otherwise intelligent people would look to the scientific literature and say, "Those guys must be right. They used a computer model." A…
Posted inCulture
Professor Confesses Why She Inflates Grades
I had a student come into my office (where I was a visiting mathematics professor) shaking with emotion. This was a day or two before the final exam. I couldn't…
Posted inStatistics
Scientists Claim Homosexual Men Have Different Faces
In the journal that brought you "Is a Woman's Preference for Chest Hair in Men Influenced by Parasite Threat?"1, "Accurate Identification of a Preference for Insertive Versus Receptive Intercourse from…
Posted inStatistics
We’re 88% Through The International Year Of Statistics
I hadn't any idea we'd even started. But thanks to reader Dan Hughes and his link to the Wall Street Journal story Odds Lot: Statisticians Party Like It's 2.013 x…
Posted inStatistics
Putting The Squeeze On Bob Newhart, Duck Dynasty
The culture war continues, with most of the battles still being won by the side which employs its devastatingly effective Shock Shrill Squad (the SSS). Two examples. Heard of Legatus?…
Posted inFun
We Gave Them The Willies
I have returned from my conference where I gave a half-stunned audience my lecture The Top Six Fallacies In Statistics. But though I labored long and hard, it wasn't all…
