William M. Briggs

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…

Culture Philosophy

On Remaining Quiet In Time Of War

Those who are unwilling to hold this is true will be subject to those who will. Those who cannot defend their beliefs must accept the rule of those who do.…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: God’s Understanding Is His Essence

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. We're entering…

Philosophy

The Miracles-Don’t-Exist-So-Miracles-Don’t-Exist Argument

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=69&v=0d4FHHf00pY Say something nice: the Miracles-Don't-Exist-So-Miracles-Don't-Exist argument is conditionally true. If miracles are impossible, miracles, it follows logically, don't happen. No escaping the iron cladedness of that (you heard me:…

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…

Fun

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I'm on the road---and in a chair.

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…

JR Ewing on Lancet Discovers Public Health Is PoliticsMarch 16, 2026
"For these crimes, our rulers paid no price. Not directly." ----------------------- It depresses me when I think about it, so…
NLR on On Not ReadingMarch 15, 2026
quote from Idonotreadcomments: "everything men create is derivative of what came before us. There are no stories that have not…
Rudolph Harrier on On Not ReadingMarch 14, 2026
Idonotreadcomments: you are making the wrong observation from bookstores. Certainly that sort of smut is plentiful in bookstores, and this…
Nym Coy on On Not ReadingMarch 13, 2026
Might I interest you in a book? It is called Mumbai Singularity, and it is a mythic cyberpunk detective thriller…
Uncle Mike on Class 82: Be More Uncertain (About Models)March 12, 2026
The probability of significant "climate change" in equatorial Africa is very small because most climate change occurs at the poles.…

William M. Briggs

Lancet Discovers Public Health Is Politics

Class 82: Be More Uncertain (About Models)

On Not Reading

The Great Smoothing: Another Reason Not To Fear (or trust) AI

A Synchronicity Or Coincidence? What Is Behind Curious Events?

Class 81: The Second Biggest Error In Time Series

The Paper Test Shows Why AGI Is Not Possible: And Why The Brain Is Different In Kind

Researcher Imagines Weather With No Human Influence: Concludes Climate Change Hurts Incomes

Faith Deposited: Why Godless Science Fails

Class 80: Granger Causality; Per Se & Accidental Time Series; Stationarity

Scientists Seeking To Escape Criticism Run To The Warmth & Comfort Of Bluesky

The Loss of Ephemera — Guest Post by The Blonde Bombshell

Class 79: Time Series Example

The Importance Of Not Making Decisions

Don’t Take The ‘Long-Covid’ Alzheimer’s Study Seriously

AI Is Driving Many Crazy: Our Latest Panic

Class 78: The Attempt To Turn Correlation Lead Into Causation Gold In Time Series

Desperate Need For Equality: AP Exam Performance

Some Sanity: Experts Sued For Creating Gender Delusions

Why The Recent Claims Of AGI Fail: Plus, A New Test For AGI

Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So Well