William M. Briggs

Tide Gauge Locations And Sea Level Rise, Some Statistical Concerns

Marcel Crok asked me to comment on the peer-reviewed paper "Tide gauge location and the measurement of global sea level rise" Beenstock (yes) and others in the journal Environmental and…

Statistics

It’s World Statistics Day! Death To P-Values, Hypothesis Tests, And False Ascriptions Of Cause! #StatsDay15

Who said the UN doesn't do anything useful? Courtesy of that august body, it's World Statistics Day! Official statistics help decision makers develop informed policies that impact millions of people.…

Culture Philosophy

Is It Moral To Use Embryonic Stem Cells In Cancer Therapy?

From an anonymous reader comes this question: Situation: Doctor is referring me to an oncologist because I may have Myeloma. Note that I have not yet gone for additional screening.…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: God Has Free Will

See the first post in this series for an explanation and guide of our tour of Summa Contra Gentiles. All posts are under the category SAMT. Previous post. Here we…

Culture Statistics

This Week In Doom: Death Education & Blind Science

This week, entries from readers (I'm woefully behind). Science Is Blind Blind on purpose. Elizabeth Murphy recalls a lecture "delivered at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador recently…

Statistics

Stream: Scientists Claim Zapping Brains With Magnets Can Treat Belief In God

Apologies to all. I thought this was going to run on Thursday, so I'm a day behind. If you're one of the folks who asked about upcoming articles, these have…

Statistics

Why Statistics Can’t Discover Cause, And Bad Priors

My mailbag is filling up. Today two questions from readers, both about statistics. Feel free to send yours in on any subject. Tomorrow is a doozy. Question 1 From reader…

Statistics

On The Supposed Newly Discovered “Gay Genes.” Or, The Importance Of Model Skill

Great news! The press and activists are touting a study which claims to have discovered the genes that "make" somebody gay. So get your enwombed baby's DNA scanned and make…

NLR on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
One might wonder why, after billions of dollars spent building up infrastructure, paying workers to program and "train" (calibrate) this…
Briggs on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
Michael, No, it's the code. The code says "Take this X and do this and such to it," where X…
Michael 2 on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
The Large Language Models (LLM, ChatGPT kind of thing) use code to process training data. The output is NOT determined…
Hagfish Bagpipe on The Hubris Of Experts: NIH EditionJune 17, 2025
HagFISH. Sheesh
Hagfush Bagpipe on The Hubris Of Experts: NIH EditionJune 17, 2025
Briggs, watching you work is like watching an expert woodsman split wood. You have a keen eye for the natural…

William M. Briggs

AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded Output

The Hubris Of Experts: NIH Edition

The Mathematics Of Conspiracy Theories. Part 1: Black Eye Club Example

Class 54: Exchangeability & Parameters

Over-Certainty Of Polygenic Scores

AI & The Dilemma Of Technology

What Are The Chances Thomas Jefferson & John Adams Died On The Fourth of July, 1826?

Class 53: Laplace Was Right!

Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering Out

Expert Nathan Confas: Experts Know Best

Science Claims 7% Of Adults Saw A Mass Shooting

Class 52: The Origin Of Parameters

IQ Is Not Intelligence

What Are The Chances…George Wendt Dies On Same Day Cheers Ended 32 Years Before?

Class 51: Bayes Is Only A Formula

Blacks Have Black Fatigue: Who Is At Fault?

A Reason The Birthrate Is So Low: Food

What Are The Chances…A Women Survives Cancer 4 Times To Be Killed By “Random” Bullet?

Class 50: Independence Versus Irrelevance

The Nuances and Challenges of Federal Funding for Research — Guest Post by An Academic

Eggs and ‘PFAS-Easter’ or Selling Fear on the Day of Resurrection — Guest Post by Jaap Hanekamp

AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded Output

The Hubris Of Experts: NIH Edition

Tide Gauge Locations And Sea Level Rise, Some Statistical Concerns

It’s World Statistics Day! Death To P-Values, Hypothesis Tests, And False Ascriptions Of Cause! #StatsDay15

Is It Moral To Use Embryonic Stem Cells In Cancer Therapy?

Summary Against Modern Thought: God Has Free Will

This Week In Doom: Death Education & Blind Science

Stream: Scientists Claim Zapping Brains With Magnets Can Treat Belief In God

Why Statistics Can’t Discover Cause, And Bad Priors

On The Supposed Newly Discovered “Gay Genes.” Or, The Importance Of Model Skill

There Is No Culture Without Inequality: Stove 1

Impose Your Beliefs Before They Impose Theirs

Telekinesis: Ideas In Our Reenchantment & Rectification

The Physics Of Blessings: Ideas In Our Reenchantment & Rectification