Briggs

Podcast Lecture #3: Understanding Statistics and Probability

[podcast]https://www.wmbriggs.com/audio/wmbriggs_com_lecture_0003.mp3[/podcast] Today's lecture: Review Logic: If our premises are that we have a six-sided die that we'll toss, and that only one side will show on that toss, and that…

Statistics

Windows 7? Why not Linux, instead?

My logs show that only a paltry 3.6% of readers have reached Complete Enlightenment. The bad news is that 83.1% of you live a hellish existence and suffer regular torments…

Statistics

Not Evil, Just Wrong reviewed: Guest Post by Bernie

Today's guest post is by our very own Bernie, longtime reader and contributer. Too confused and too nuanced to be effective Phelim McAleer's and Ann McElhinney's Not Evil, Just Wrong…

Statistics

Full Disclosure, Anita Dunn, and Fox News: A Fairness Proposal for Journalists

In the United States, we have several major news outlets. On television: ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox. There are also several national-ish newspapers (and a diminishing number…

Statistics

Podcast Lecture #2: Understanding Statistics and Probability

[podcast]https://www.wmbriggs.com/audio/wmbriggs_com_lecture_0002.mp3[/podcast] On today's lecture: Quick review All knowledge is conditional on evidence, which eventually leads back to our intuitions. The steps in an argument that make it valid are also…

Podcast Statistics

Podcast Radio Show â€“ Episode #4: Belief in Climate Models

[podcast]https://www.wmbriggs.com/audio/wmbriggs_com_14oct2009_0004.mp3[/podcast] On today's episode: Science and skeptical bloggers A small article in last week's Science magazine frets that skeptical bloggers are teasing climate scientists over their failed predictions. Bloggers are…

Culture Fun

F train Blues, Michael Palin is proud, and some misuses of statistics

Just back from my trip. I'll go through the comments from last week's posts later today and catch up. Meanwhile, here are a few interesting stories. That F'ing train! You've…

Statistics

Podcast Lecture #1: Understanding Statistics and Probability

[podcast]https://www.wmbriggs.com/audio/wmbriggs_com_lecture_0001.mp3[/podcast] First lecture: I'm away to a conference this week, and so thought it would be fun to start a lecture series Understanding Statistics and Probability (this is posting automatically---I'll…

Philip Rogan on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
May be showing my lack of IQ: 2 + 2 = 4; 4 x 2 = 8. 5 + 5…
NLR on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
You explained the point clearly, that any question involves assumptions about its meaning and how it should be answered. If…
Cary D Cotterman on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
In the absence of knowing if the author intended some more complex formula, and what it might be, the simplest…
Brian (bulaoren) on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
72! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! I think that puzzle would have been more legitimate if the…
bruce g charlton on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 8, 2026
Ultimately IQ tests are "pen and paper tests", and share their intrinsic limitations and assumptions*. The reason IQ tests were…