Briggs

The Obama-HHS Diktat On Contraceptive Coverage: Non-Religious Arguments Against It

The government has decided that citizens who agree to work for other citizens must be given "free" coverage for contraceptives and drugs for auto-abortions. The "free" is a misnomer. Actually,…

Philosophy Statistics

Let’s Try This Time Series Thing Again: Part V

Part I, II, III, IV, V. We started by assuming each X was measured without error, that each observation was perfectly certain. This is not always so for real X.…

Philosophy Statistics

Let’s Try This Time Series Thing Again: Part IV

Part I, II, III, IV, V. We have before us X1 to X156. We started by assuming that something, called T, caused these data to take the values it did.…

Philosophy Statistics

Let’s Try This Time Series Thing Again: Part III

Part I, II, III, IV, V. The objection which will occur to those, Lord help them, who have had some statistical training is that "increased" means a combination of "linear…

Philosophy Statistics

Let’s Try This Time Series Thing Again: Part II

Part I, II, III, IV, V. Before us are the observations X1 to X156. Recall we are assuming that each of these X has been measured without any error. Given…

Statistics

Let’s Try This Time Series Thing Again: Part I

This series originally began 5 February 2012. Part I, II, III, IV, V. We've gone on and on about how to think about time series, but we are having trouble…

Philosophy Statistics

On Corrections In Science

Somebody attributed to Max Planck, a constant1 source of wisdom, the saying that science advances funeral by funeral. This is a pithy condensation of his more famous quotation: A new…

Culture Fun Statistics

Should Scientists Be Held Legally Responsible for Their Results?

That title is lifted from Popular Science's brief article. The idea is that scientists---as philosopher Christopher Essex reminded me, just like doctors and accountants and businessmen and engineers and everybody…

Tars Tarkas on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
"The Drake and Fermi are not flawed logically: one can put probabilities to any question." The Drake equation always struck…
NLR on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
There may or may not be extraterrestrial life, but if we ever see some, I suspect there will be surprises.…
Douglas Skinner on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
The other bookend paired with the Drake/Fermi speculations is Evolution. In this January's edition of First Things Magazine comes a…
C-Marie on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
God loves you. Let Him take you home when it is time. In the mean time, give to our Father…
C. P. Benischek on Merry Christmas!December 29, 2025
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentle Briggs! Don’t dismay, Christmas isn’t yet over, but rather just warming up. A Child is…