Posted inCulture
What Will They Protest Now? Guest Post by G. Willikers
'G. Willikers' is an old friend of mine and another long-time higher education insider. I tend to think old G is right, and that those schools who have banned ROTC…
Posted inStatistics
Global Warming Superheroes
"Holy CO2, Gaia Girl! It's the evil Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley! We have to stop him before he goes all Lordly on us!" "Gosh, you're right Flash…
Posted inFun
Taipei Cabbies And Food
So we were in a cab and the driver waits to hear Where to? News Years street, we say. Why? the driver asks. To So and So's famous place for…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Classical Statistics Is Like A Criminal Trial
What is A crime has been committed. Evidence---probative background information---points to a list of suspects, a list which, as always, might be incomplete. A most likely candidate is made to…
Posted inCulture
Cultural Suicide: Have A Merry Holidays
Suicide used to be considered a criminal act. Naturally, once you've offed yourself and the authorities have your corpse in hand, there is not much in the way of punishment…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
What’s Wrong With Hypothesis Testing: Reader Question
I received this email from long-time reader Ivin Rhyne, which is so well put that I thought we should all see it (I'm quoting with permission): Matt, I just got…
Posted inCulture Philosophy
John Cage’s 4′ 33″
As much as I think his theories are composed of aether, I wish, and heartily too, that John Cage's masterpiece 4' 33" were pumped through public speakers more often. I…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
What Is A “Statistically Significant Trend”?
Longtime reader Nate Winchester found a discussion---among the many, many---of global warming data revolving around statistics, from which we take the following snippet: You just do the statistics on the…