William M. Briggs

Pope Francis And Out-Of-Control Deadly Eschatological Global Warming

This post is one that has been restored after the hacking. All original comments were lost. The press, fond as they are of reporting wild speculation as actual news, has…

Statistics

Monty Hall And This Video Prove Probability Is Measure Of Truth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5-I0bAuEUE This post is one that has been restored after the hacking. All original comments were lost. This post is really an excuse to highlight a cute video that's being…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: That God Is Good

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. This post is one…

Fun

Manly Things, Northern Michigan Edition

This post is one that has been restored after the hacking. All original comments were lost. My number one son sent me the video above (linked here). Can you imagine…

Culture Philosophy

Pascal’s Pensées, A Tour: IV

Since our walk through Summa Contra Gentiles is going so well, why not let's do the same with Pascal's sketchbook on what we can now call Thinking Thursdays. We'll use…

Philosophy Statistics

Improper Language About Priors

Suppose you decided (almost surely by some ad hoc rule) that the uncertainty in some thing (call it y) is best quantified by a normal distribution with central parameter θ…

Philosophy Statistics

I Also Declare The Bayesian vs. Frequentist Debate Over For Data Scientists

I stole the title, adding the word "also", from an article by Rafael Irizarry at Simply Stats (tweeted by Diego Kuonen). First, brush clearing. Data scientists. Sounds like galloping bureaucratic…

Culture

NYC Protesters: ‘What Do We Want? Dead Cops!’ What They’ll Get Is Something Else

https://twitter.com/NYCityAlerts/status/543987028166455296 "Comedy" (or perhaps "farce") is a good word to describe the human predicament given events like Sony (the hacked company which revealed emails with lame jokes) studio head and…

Cary D Cotterman on Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So WellFebruary 4, 2026
Polar bears have existed for at least half a million years, and possibly as long as a million. They have…
Brian (bulaoren) on Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So WellFebruary 4, 2026
Dr. Briggs I was afraid I'd hijacked your subject today with my, rather dark, "Walter Lantz" cartoon. Returning to your…
Brian (bulaoren) on Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So WellFebruary 4, 2026
While we're on the subject of "Ursus Maritimus"; In 1987, a group of amusement denied boys decided to make an…
hudbwu on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 3, 2026
> But that’s because the setup is itself weird. It contains the implicit premise that more beliefs equals better survival,…
John M on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 3, 2026
Well, now I know why lawyers are all screwed up.

William M. Briggs

Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So Well

Impossible LSAT Statistics Question

How Women’s Equality In Democracies Changes Voting (And Everything Else)

Class 77: Trendy Trends In Time Series

Who Still Listens To AM Radio?

Scientists Invent New Name For Models: Digital Twins

What Science Says About Making Medication Mandatory

What A Winter

FDA Goes Bayes: It Should Have Gone Probability

Class 76: That’s Not Noise. That’s Signal!

AI: The Earth Is Spinning Faster & Slower (Because “Climate Change”)

Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis Shooting

Sports Betting Is An Excellent Way To Lose Money

Class 75: A Gentle Introduction To Time Series

The Consent Fallacy

On Laws Banning Hacking Women’s Genitals & Imposing Beliefs

Register Your Predictions For 2026!

Happy New Year!

How Did We Do In Our 2025 Predictions?

Why The Drake Equation Fails

Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor Killings