William M. Briggs

Latest Threat To Global Warming? In Vitro Fertilization

Stop me if you're heard this one before. An academic, educated well beyond her capabilities, having a lot of free time on her hands, and frightened past the point of…

Culture Philosophy

Government To Issue Baby Licenses

Regular readers will recall that I am a (self-appointed) bioethicist, a post I take on not because I need the work, but because the professionals are making such a hash…

Fun

What Should Artists Do About Global Warming Contest

Picture shows artist Sarah Cameron Sunde, who stood in San Francisco Bay on Friday Aug. 15, 2014, "for a full cycle of tides, a more-than 13-hour process." A more than…

Philosophy

Philosophic Issues in Cosmology VI: Anthropic Coincidences—Guest Post by Bob Kurland

Bob Kurland is a retired, cranky, old physicist, and convert to Catholicism. He shows that there is no contradiction between what science tells us about the world and our Catholic…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: God Is Not Made Of Matter

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. A relatively…

Statistics

Ask A Scientific Ethicist: Baby Making, Auto Mishap, ISIS Attacks

This was supposed to run this morning. No idea why it didn't. This week, three letters from concerned readers. Too many babies Dear Scientific Ethicist, Hopefully this subject matter isn't…

Statistics

It Makes No Sense To Say You’re More Likely To Die Of Bee Sting Than Shark Bite

The National Journal says: "The odds of being killed by a shark are about 1 in 3.7 million. The odds of being killed by a sting from a bee, wasp,…

Statistics

Decline Of Participation In Religious Rituals With Improved Sanitation

Answer me this. Earl at the end of the bar, on his sixth or seventh, tells listeners just what's wrong with America's science policy. His words receive knowing nods from…

km on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerMay 3, 2026
What happens if you choose not to participate?
Briggs on Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: SkillMay 3, 2026
Gareth, And thanks for the comment.
gareth on Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: SkillMay 3, 2026
You said "and thanks for listening". To which my reply is "and thanks for doing" (many fold) I'm only half…
tfc on Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: SkillMay 1, 2026
Wow. Americans say the Soviet Union was a huge success.
John Pate on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerApril 30, 2026
I would press the red button because it's the red button. The bigger the red button the harder you hit…

William M. Briggs

Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI Pachinko

Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: Skill

The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising Answer

UFO Reports About To Blast Off!

Class 87: Calibration & Conformal Prediction: Examples

Noticing Differences Between Races Does Not Pay

What Are The Chances Of All These Scientists Dying, Killed, Or Going Missing?

Class 86: Calibration & Conformal Prediction: Theory

How A Miracle Turns Mundane

Contest Winner Announced!

Trump’s Last Stand: Mea Culpa, Redux — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Class 85: Proper Scores of Model Goodness

Proof!

Justice Ketanji Roars

Iran Has Caught Covid: A Reason For The War

Class 84: Most Important Measure of Model Goodness

There Is No Solution To Crashing Fertility: Good Times Made Soft Men

Did The Pope Really Say Health Is A “Right”?

All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A Model

It’s The End Of The World Again

Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb People

Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI Pachinko

Class 88: The Most Neglected Concept: Skill

Latest Threat To Global Warming? In Vitro Fertilization

Government To Issue Baby Licenses

What Should Artists Do About Global Warming Contest

Philosophic Issues in Cosmology VI: Anthropic Coincidences—Guest Post by Bob Kurland

Summary Against Modern Thought: God Is Not Made Of Matter

Ask A Scientific Ethicist: Baby Making, Auto Mishap, ISIS Attacks

It Makes No Sense To Say You’re More Likely To Die Of Bee Sting Than Shark Bite

Decline Of Participation In Religious Rituals With Improved Sanitation

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