Statistics – Page 180 – William M. Briggs

Grandmaster: Men Better At Chess. Or, Data And The Underdetermination Of Theory

Update Note the New & Improved title! Chess Grandmaster Nigel Short caused a stink, reaching oooo-weee! but not quite burn-him! levels, when he said that men and women are different…

Statistics

The Logic Puzzle That Is “Stumping The Internet.” Update: Now With Solution

The Washington Post thinks the puzzle above is hideously difficult and says that it has become an "obsession". The writer there certainly finds it sweat-inducing: "As the problem spread far…

Philosophy Statistics

Space’s 10 Mistakes People Make When Arguing Science

Reader Ken pointed us to Space.com's click-me-click-me! article "The 10 Mistakes People Make When Arguing Science". Since everybody loves numbered lists, I'll duplicate their efforts here, using their mistakes. Isn't…

Fun Statistics

Masters Statistics & (Some) Predictions

Here's a view of the winning scores from par since the inception of the tournament. The early years saw little variability, but since the 60s there were a lot more…

Statistics

P-Value Hacking Is Finally Being Noticed

Since I'm on the road, all typos today are free of charge. Some reasonably good news to report. A peer-reviewed paper: "The fickle P value generates irreproducible results" by Lewis…

Statistics

What Evidence Would Persuade You That Man-Made Climate Change Is Real?

Somebody named Ronald Bailey (he isn't anybody I know) at the inaptly named Reason asked the good question which heads this post. Second thought: the question is awful. No scientist…

Culture Statistics

Global Warming Hypocrisy: Or, Science Is Politics

Lefties take money, too In an interview with far-left New York Times, activist and part-time scientist Michael Oppenheimer says "nothing follows" from his taking moola from the EDF (Environmental Defense…

Statistics

Bill Nye The Science Guy Confuses Scientific Uncertainty Versus Doubt

On the road, so something quick. Reader Paul Mullen writes: Briggs, A fellow at the salt mine was thoughtful enough to leave a copy in the break room of April's…

C-Marie on AI: The Earth Is Spinning Faster & Slower (Because “Climate Change”)January 14, 2026
Yay for the Truth!! God bless, C-Marie
John M on AI: The Earth Is Spinning Faster & Slower (Because “Climate Change”)January 14, 2026
I asked an AI: if the big bang theory is true, where is the center of the universe? The answer…
hudbwu on Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis ShootingJanuary 14, 2026
@R W Pearson: Okay good, we're talking about it. If I understood Correia correctly, he offers the following defence: "the…
Tim on AI: The Earth Is Spinning Faster & Slower (Because “Climate Change”)January 14, 2026
Absolutely true! After rephrasing or submitting more factual information, I get even more dismissive replies. Yeah, there are certainly "No…
John M on Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis ShootingJanuary 14, 2026
I think law enforcement needs to revisit how they respond to vehicles. If a vehicle is classified as a deadly…