William M. Briggs

What Would Mark Twain Say About Gun Safety?

Spring Training at the Blog. This post originally appeared in January of 2008. Domonic Gaines, the brute, held the gun to the baby's head and...snapshot! As in photograph: somebody filmed…

Statistics

Thirdhand Smoking: A Triumph Of Wee P-Values

We last did third-hand smoking back in 2011. Even then I didn't think the concept would far. How silly can you get? Pretty silly. Thanks to Dan Hughes we have…

Statistics

Bayes Theorem and Coronavirus: The Chance You Have It & The Chance You Die

I didn't have a chance to put this in yesterday's update, but I've been asked to do it. It's a classic in every 101 biostat textbook to do Bayes theorem…

Class Statistics

Coronavirus Update IV — Take A Deep Breath — If You Still Can

Apologies for the duplicate email! I hit the wrong button yesterday and published the incomplete update meant for today. All the good stuff, caveats, and explanations are linked, some in…

Culture

UN Rapporteur: Give Up Your Religion, Embrace Expert-Certified UNreligion

I don't know the Maldivian word for cohones, but Maldivian UN Special Rapporteur Ahmad Shaheed got him some heuvos grande. Shadheed says any who follows a religion should ignore that…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: Even Private Acts Can Be Sinful

Previous post. Getting away with it in private won't cut it. THAT DIVINE LAW ORDERS MAN ACCORDING TO REASON IN REGARD TO CORPOREAL AND SENSIBLE THINGS 1 Now, just as…

Culture

The Week In Doom — Gendering Jesus Edition

Item What Finding Jesus' Private Parts in the Turin Shroud Says About Faith (Tip from Beckett Basketcase) Newly published scientific investigations into the Turin Shroud have identified the outline of…

Fun

Everything You Know Is Wrong — Book Excerpt! There Is No Wisdom In Crowds

The most controversial book of the year is still on its way! I found two other publishers willing to give it a look, and they're reviewing it now. If they…

John M on Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!June 11, 2026
The picture on the video link shows how boring the game is. There are so many people yawning and a…
_Jim on How Experts Use “Calamities” to Find Official Victims & Gain PowerJune 11, 2026
re: "How Experts Use “Calamities” to Find Official Victims & Gain Power" Having skimmed the above post, I realize my…
_Jim on How High an IQ Must A Person Have To Be Executed?June 11, 2026
re: "The only question is capacity to recognize guilt. If the perpetrator was allowed to vote in national elections, the…
_Jim on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 10, 2026
One gains a better understanding of the underpinnings of the grist (the extensions to the 'maths') behind QM (Quantum Mechanics)…
_Jim on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 10, 2026
I echo Jean Lesperance's response ... overbooked to too many blogs these days!

William M. Briggs

Class 91: Try Not To Use the ROC Curve & AUC

Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!

The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of Answers

Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?

No Model Will Save Us: Pope Leo, the Miserostat, and AI’s Woke Coders

How High an IQ Must A Person Have To Be Executed?

Class 90: Simple (Optimal) Decisions

Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living Longer

Blessed Memorial Day; No Class; See You Wednesday

Why There Are (Probably) No UFOs: “Climate Change”

Creating Microbial Monsters To Terrorize Ourselves

Class 89: The Measure Most Modelers Forget: Skill Examples

The Shocking Conclusion of the HR Trilemma!

The HR Trilemma: Which Door Decides Your Fate?

Capital Punishment Deters Crime More Than The Death Penalty

How Experts Use “Calamities” to Find Official Victims & Gain Power

Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI Pachinko

Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: Skill

The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising Answer

UFO Reports About To Blast Off!

Class 87: Calibration & Conformal Prediction: Examples