Ladies and Gentlemen, it has arrived. The world famous Corrigan Brothers have another hit! What they did for Barack Obama in their mega-smash There’s No One As Irish As Barack Obama, they have now done for Statistics…
…Ladies…Gentlemen…You, too, JH…I present to you the universal premiere of The Statistics Song. [APPLAUD HERE]
Never before has a song captured the essence of the war between Frequentists and Bayesians. Frequentists, long since vanquished but not yet fallen, entered the field armed only with wee p-values chanting their war cry “Sums of Squares”. Bayesians Subjective Shock Troops, berserkers to a man, led the counter charge, sacrificing themselves (as they had to) for their Logical Masters, who now stand alone, the undisputed Masters of Epistemology.
The tune is snappy—nay: rousing—the lyrics memorable. You’ll want to sing along, so here’s the Chorus.
Toor a loo
Toor a loo
Toor a loo
Toor a listics
This ongoing spat
In the world of statistics
The Brothers contacted me a while ago and let me know they were working on their next masterpiece and I asked if I could make a video of it and highlight it on the blog the very moment it was released. They kindly gave me permission.
Let’s all say thanks for their terrific efforts! And let’s pass this on in as many ways as we can think of to show our appreciation.
They call it a spat; you call it a war. Depends on the perspective. What’s the un-McNamara’d body count?
Mr. Briggs,
Lovely song. Anything that promotes statistical literacy is lovely. The American Statistical Association could hire them for the annual JSM meeting. But then for the registration fee one has to pay to attend the meeting, the ASA should be able to get both The Brothers and Bob Weir!
Does this mean I am neither a lady nor a gentleman? Ha! Thanks for thinking of me. I truly appreciate it.
This reminds me of an opinion expressed by a criminologist on TV. The criminologist used “gentlemen” to refer to the two NY escapees.
As Howson and Urbach have pointed, Bayes’s Theorem serves as an inference engine. Some mathematicians see it simply as a mathematical thinking. When it comes to using the engine and applying its framework and calculations to statistics (data analysis), i.e., Bayesian Statistics, it is another story. (So much to learn!) Statistician jobs require more than just understanding the noncomplicated Bayes or Bayesian framework. (There are also discussions on the differences between logic and framework somewhere.)
JH – oh my…
Is Briggs implying gender ambiguity? Didn’t think he believed in such
(need a ruling, Briggs)
“The criminologist used “gentlemen” to refer to the two NY escapees.”
In the Harrison Ford “Fugitive” remake, the reporter called him “a lad”.
I just shared the YouTube video on Facebook so all 23 of my family and friends can get the social media ball rolling.
Shérif,
You see that I Was spot on about thé décision 6-3 of scotus on Obamacare.
John B(),
I was thinking about so-called “gentlemen” in Confucius’ teaching. Educated, polite, well-mannered, understanding, etc. Just like in the context of the questions “how to be a lady” and “how to be a gentleman.’
I love hearing Geroge Takei say “Oh My,” but it just doesn’t sound right coming from you.
What’s on the B side?