William M. Briggs

Putting The Squeeze On Bob Newhart, Duck Dynasty

The culture war continues, with most of the battles still being won by the side which employs its devastatingly effective Shock Shrill Squad (the SSS). Two examples. Heard of Legatus?…

Philosophy Statistics

Causation And Correlation

Our friend Christopher Monckton of Brenchley wrote a piece over at Anthony Watt's place in which he said (Reader KA Rodgers asked me to have a look): CO2 concentration continues…

Culture Philosophy

Belgian “Doctors” To Kill Kids They Think They Can’t Cure

Belgium has just made it legal for "doctors" to kill children. Not those who haven't yet escaped the womb---those kids have been fair game for any quack with a sharp…

Culture Philosophy

Entry For The Most Pompous Statement Of Scientism

Our friend John Cook came (via The Renaissance Mathematicus) across what is easily one of the most pompous declarations by a scientist we have ever seen. The words came from…

Culture

Professor Confesses Why She Inflates Grades

I had a student come into my office (where I was a visiting mathematics professor) shaking with emotion. This was a day or two before the final exam. I couldn't…

Statistics

Exposure to Fast Food Impedes Happiness, Researchers

That don't call it the unhappy meal for nothing. Or, wait... What we have here is yet another instance of scientists claiming to have done something they did not do.…

Statistics

Global Warming Creating Anxious Fish

Fish the world over are rubbing their fins together and fretting over news of climate change. One day they are told earnestly that the world's oceans are going to boil…

Culture Statistics

Lord, Save Us From Impact Factors

Randy Schekman, a Big Cheese in the sciences, is right: people use "place of publication as a proxy for quality of science". Where a paper is often counts more than…

Uncle Mike on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 3, 2026
Statisticians always get blamed for everything. My friend is a statistician, so it's his own stupid fault.
JH on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 3, 2026
(A) Both valid and sound arguments are considered correct. The premise for a valid argument may be false. (See https://iep.utm.edu/val-snd/).…
Joe Blow on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 3, 2026
what a humongous lot of wankery!!
Pk on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 3, 2026
I chose A as clearly correct. The statistician's method for increasing the overall correctness does not refer to or support…
Chad W Jessup on How Women’s Equality In Democracies Changes Voting (And Everything Else)February 2, 2026
Sadly, Briggs is spot on overall, but the women he refers to do not represent the tough farm/ranch gals.

William M. Briggs

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

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Why The Drake Equation Fails

Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor Killings

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