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…

Neil Jordan on Class 94: Quantifying The UnquantifiableSeptember 17, 2026
At last, an opportunity to join you in the "Quagmire of Marginal Statistics." This and later quote are from memory…
McChuck on The MRS Degree — Guest Post by Johnathan EdwardsSeptember 17, 2026
"South Korea and Japan will no longer exist, perhaps in our lifetime, if they don’t start reproducing or bringing more…
McChuck on PFAS and Preservatives: Entrenching Chemophobia through Everyday Stuff — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampSeptember 17, 2026
How many of the breast milk lab techs (doesn't that sound filthy out of context?) were wearing latex gloves, known…
JH on PFAS and Preservatives: Entrenching Chemophobia through Everyday Stuff — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampSeptember 16, 2026
The alternative to preserved clay is, sooner rather than later, mouldy clay… Does this mean to create fear? There are…
Cary Cotterman on PFAS and Preservatives: Entrenching Chemophobia through Everyday Stuff — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampSeptember 16, 2026
Growing up in the late 1950s, I played with modeling clay almost every day. Who knows, back then it was…

William M. Briggs

Class 94: Quantifying The Unquantifiable

PFAS and Preservatives: Entrenching Chemophobia through Everyday Stuff — Guest Post by Jaap Hanekamp

The MRS Degree — Guest Post by Johnathan Edwards

Politicians Demand “Right” To Be Protected Against AI

Class 93: P-values Challenge! List The “Good Uses” of P-value

Is the West Dying Out? The Demographic Crisis Explained: Jon Harris Podcast

Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Kids Because Of “Climate Change”

Do Dogs Poop In Alignment With The Earth’s Magnetic Field?

Lewontin’s Other Fallacy: Race & Intelligence

Fertility Fears Overblown: Tiny Shift in Childless Rate Saves The Species

A New Kind Of University: Your Comments Wanted

Bad Black Health Blamed On Slavery

Is Moral Certainty Possible?

We Passed Peak “Climate Change” (um) Research

Sweet Wee Ps Say Sugar Makes You Lose Your Mind

AI Is Neither Artificial Nor Intelligent

You Can’t Con An Honest Man & The Case of Jason Arday

Academics: Achieve Sustainability by Easing Population to 4 Billion by 2200

The Impossibility of Proposition Nations

Ugly Women Rulers Condemn Lookism

The Wee P Boogie: The Song That’s Sweeping the Nation!