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…

Mary Sova on Wolfgang Smith For EveryoneJuly 28, 2026
I caught a small portion your interview with Ken Craycraft on my car radio yesterday, but didn't realize it was…
shawn marshall on Wolfgang Smith For EveryoneJuly 28, 2026
I'm not able to digest a lot of your essay but able to glean some fuzzy notions of the points…
JH on Death By Organ DonationJuly 27, 2026
Here they have no authority: none whatsoever. Is this an appeal to authority used in reverse? It seems that Dr.…
Steve on Death By Organ DonationJuly 27, 2026
"The prospect of cutting out a juicy heart has blurred their vision..." I commend you. A less restrained man might…
Brian (bulaoren) on Death By Organ DonationJuly 27, 2026
Thank you, Dr. Kevorkian PS. Soylent green is people!

William M. Briggs

Wolfgang Smith For Everyone

Death By Organ Donation

$7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?

Caution Against The Precautionary Principle: Interview with Jaap Hanekamp

Believing In God Makes You Crave Potato Chips, Say Academics

Hume’s Guillotine, Euclid’s Catapult: Induction, Axioms, and Objective Ethics

University of California Prof Tries To Save System From DIEing

The Equality Paradox

My Horrible Interaction With AI

SOON

The Court’s Slow Theft Of The Constitution — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Happy Birthday to US

Never Use Or Trust P-values (Pagan-Values)

Musk Doges Deaths: Researchers Say USAID Absence Kills Kills Kills!

The Intellectual Capacity Of Women by David Stove

Marbles!

Class 92: Simple Optimal Decisions: PSA & Cancer Example

Math Is Epistemic Violence, Says Lady Academic

Truly Random Numbers Found?

Class 91: Try Not To Use the ROC Curve & AUC

Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!