Statistics – Page 284 – William M. Briggs

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part I

Another probability "paradox", the two-envelope problem1, goes like this: Before you are two envelopes, A and B. One of them contains $X and the other $2X (which is equivalent to…

Statistics

St Petersburg Paradox; Games and Statistical Decisions; RIP David Blackwell

David Blackwell, who died two weeks ago, was one of the first mainstream statisticians to "go Bayesian." And for that and his unique skill in clearly explaining difficult ideas, we…

Statistics

How to Fool Yourself—And Others—With Statistics

See the news box to the left. I wrote this long ago and never used it. I do not love it. But since I am so busy, I haven't the…

Statistics

US Military Fatality Statistics: Have Suicides Increased?

All statistics were gathered from this DOD site. 2010 numbers were current as of 5 June this year; they were not part of the plots below. In 1983, the year…

Fun Statistics

World Cup Predictions Verified

All that was missing was the water for the players to plunge into. Still, referee Howard Webb must be a fan of the aquatic and artistic sport of diving, and…

Fun Statistics

The Predictive Skills of Octopii: Paul’s World Cup Prognostications

In Detroit, for that glorious game of soccer-on-ice-with-sticks, we---I still say "we"; you can never separate yourself from your birthplace---know what to do with octopuses, octopii as were: We toss…

Philosophy Statistics

Symmetry, Priors, Logical Probability, Infinities, and Needless Paradoxes

One reason why some reject the notions of logical probability and Bayesian statistics is because it is said that assignments of probability under symmetry generate paradoxes. However, as I will…

Statistics

Lady Wins Fourth Lottery: What Are the Odds?

I'm in the wild blue yonder today; so here is a distraction. Thanks to reader Jade for suggesting the topic. Nobody can scratch better than Las Vegas resident Joan Ginther,…

Mike Borgelt on UFO Hits United Flight. All Survive. This Time!October 28, 2025
Very roughly 250 knots indicated airspeed is about 1.5 psi pitot pressure. This is about the indicated airspeed of an…
spetzer86 on Changes Are Coming: Our Return to 1970sOctober 28, 2025
In college during the 70's, it would get cold enough to freeze the Iowa river that passed through the UofI…
Cary Cotterman on UFO Hits United Flight. All Survive. This Time!October 28, 2025
A couple of things I wonder about: What would happen if the object had hit, say, the center of the…
Richard Brimage on UFO Hits United Flight. All Survive. This Time!October 28, 2025
It appears to have been a sand filled ballast bag hanging from a weather balloon.
Phil R on Changes Are Coming: Our Return to 1970sOctober 28, 2025
A family vacation goes awry in a faraway village after the innocents realize the village was run by a cult…