Statistics – Page 170 – William M. Briggs

On Coincidence And Fortune: Why So Many One-Eyed Generals?

Plutarch opens his Life of Sertorius with these two sentences: It is perhaps not a matter of surprise, if in the lapse of time, which is unlimited, while fortune is…

Culture Statistics

Stream: Dice Games Prove Evolution Because Humans Believed In Punitive Gods?

Today's post is at the Stream: Dice Games Prove Evolution Because Humans Believed In Punitive Gods? Answer this question: could you, by counting the number of coins some guy puts…

Culture Statistics

What Happens If You Take Away Women’s Birth Control?

The titular question is in earnest, dear reader, just as it was for Amanda J. Stevenson and four others. Yes, those fine academics were just as perplexed as you probably…

Statistics

Science Confirms Astrology! Plus, Machine Learning, Big Data, And Causes

Health signs The alternate title to today's post, suggested by reader Kip Hansen, is "Data scientists find connections between birth month and health". Don't scoff. We're talking peer review and…

Philosophy Statistics

Gravitational Waves And Discovering Cause

You'll have heard by now that the existence of gravitational waves have been "confirmed." The scare quotes are intentional, but not in the sense that I (necessarily) disbelieve in the…

Statistics

Regression Can’t Prove Discrimination

Anybody out there a lawyer, or do you know one, who is involved on the side of angels in these so-called discrimination lawsuits? Have them contact me. The argument that…

Philosophy Statistics

Infinity, (Physical) Parameters, Fine Tuning, & Probability

Via Ed Feser I was led back to Alvin Plantinga's Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism, which has a lot about probability. I'll not do much of…

Statistics

Iowa Caucus Open Discussion. Update: Text Fixed, Those Coin Tosses Discussed

https://twitter.com/mattstat/status/694224471712878592 That tweet was my prediction early yesterday, which I made partly relying on polls but more on the size of the crowds those two men garnered. About those polls,…

Brian (bulaoren) on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
Logic, empiricism, wisdom... These solvents are without impact for people who have, so often, survived them. I believe this is…
spetzer86 on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
It's interesting that the commenters using AI prove the point that the use of a model yielding apparently random results…
JH on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
When brilliant minds join forces with advanced computers that execute tasks with precision and speed by following instructions, they achieve…
fergus on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
Post script. Looks like you are hiding well, for now, from the AI in the sky. I asked it if…
fergus on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
Did not read the article, just copy/pasted the number list to ChatGPT and it got right back with: Yes —…