Posted inStatistics
People Growing Dumber Or Research Growing Slacker?
If there was ever a paper which was in danger of refuting itself by its title, this is it. "Were the Victorians cleverer than us? The decline in general intelligence…
Posted inStatistics
How’d We Do On Our 2014 Predictions?
This post is one that has been restored after the hacking. All original comments were lost. Time to tally. As has become our tradition, each New Year's Eve we see…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Correlation And Coincidence
A hastily written entry today, folks. Busy day. Typos at no extra charge. Reader Al Perrella invites us to Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manner, where a note from our friend Mike…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Mexican Hat Fallacy
Reader Kip Hansen asks, "Can you please run a brief explanation of what the Mexican Hat fallacy is statistically?" I can. The Mexican Hat Fallacy, or Falacia Sombrero, is when…
Posted inStatistics
Belief In God Associated With Psychiatric Symptoms
Medicalizing Belief Would you say that a guy who claims he believes in a "just" God suffers from "psychiatric symptoms"? What if we swap "just" for "critical." Do we have…
Posted inCulture
Punishment Of Pre-Thoughtcrime On The Rise: You Could Be Next
Certain Canadians have been tried, convicted, and sentenced for pre-thoughtcrime. Bound to have happened, you will say, especially given events such as the howling drooling hate-filled mob that terrorized Brandon…
Posted inStatistics
Thinking About Dying Or Just Saw Bad Art? Pop A Tylenol, Say Researchers
At last justice! Psychologists are finally admitting that surrealism is painful. Take that starchitects! In your face performance artists! Swallow bitter pills transgressive painters! Actually, swallow Tylenol, because new research…
Posted inStatistics
Do Heat Waves Cause Birth Defects?
What would you name a paper which purports to discover that heat waves stress pregnant women and thus cause birth defects but which never once measures the actual exposure of…
