William M. Briggs

Beneficent Government To Ban Another Thing (Trans Fats)

Studies show the government cares about you more than you care about you, that the government loves you more than your fractured ability to love it back, that this most…

Culture Philosophy

Students Eschewing Humanities In Favor Of Science

The Times is reporting that students are high-tailing it away from the humanities, scurrying into "STEM" departments. STEM is the educational buzzword of the day---theorists in education surf from fad…

Culture Statistics

The Boston Globe’s Failed Assassination Of Willie Soon

Christopher Rowland, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe, is not a child molester. The Boston Globe has covered child molestation stories, suspiciously at times when Rowland was with…

Culture

What Happens When Research Yields Unpopular Findings

After learning the gabbling Stephan Lewandowsky was able to complain in the Associate for Psychological Science's Observer magazine that some loon called him a self-contradictory bad name, I became curious…

Statistics

Women With Large Posteriors Live Longer? Or Is Medical Reporting Nonsense?

When reader Bruce Foutch sent me the article "Ghanaian women with big buttocks will live longer---Research", I first thought, "Here's a story a Bayesian can really sink his teeth into"…

Culture

The Supraterranean War On Sanity: Scientists Versus Civilians

Cast your mind back to 1980. Nobody, not a soul, knew that gaspers, coffin nails, and cancer sticks were bad for you.1 Tobacco companies used an advanced form of mind…

Culture

Snot-nosed Brown University Brats Throw Temper Tantrum

When is the last time you saw a bratty kid throw a temper tantrum? If you were a professor at an American university, probably right after midterms. But if you…

Statistics

Robert Heinlein And The Distinction Between Scientist vs Academician

Christos Argyropoulos â€(@ChristosArgyrop) asked me to comment on his post of the same title at the blog Statistical Reflections of a Medical Doctor. Heinlein: One can judge from experiment, or…

C-Marie on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
Hi Matt, Love your writings. Some I do not understand, but then, am on the sunnyside up of 82 1/2…
Jim Fedako on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
Whatever schedule keeps you posting is fine by me. As far as email notifications, I don’t always get them so…
Uncle Mike on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
Yes. Quite an amazing oeuvre. Nothing like it elsewhere. KUTGW.
Blaine Wieland on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
Dr.Briggs, I'm a long-time subscriber. (Years and years.) What I have always liked is that you write because you have…
Tars Tarkas on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
How about a monthly or bi-weekly podcast? The Z-Man had this and it rounded out his written articles. Many of…

William M. Briggs

Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?

No Model Will Save Us: Pope Leo, the Miserostat, and AI’s Woke Coders

How High an IQ Must A Person Have To Be Executed?

Class 90: Simple (Optimal) Decisions

Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living Longer

Blessed Memorial Day; No Class; See You Wednesday

Why There Are (Probably) No UFOs: “Climate Change”

Creating Microbial Monsters To Terrorize Ourselves

Class 89: The Measure Most Modelers Forget: Skill Examples

The Shocking Conclusion of the HR Trilemma!

The HR Trilemma: Which Door Decides Your Fate?

Capital Punishment Deters Crime More Than The Death Penalty

How Experts Use “Calamities” to Find Official Victims & Gain Power

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

Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?

No Model Will Save Us: Pope Leo, the Miserostat, and AI’s Woke Coders

Beneficent Government To Ban Another Thing (Trans Fats)

Students Eschewing Humanities In Favor Of Science

The Boston Globe’s Failed Assassination Of Willie Soon

What Happens When Research Yields Unpopular Findings

Women With Large Posteriors Live Longer? Or Is Medical Reporting Nonsense?

The Supraterranean War On Sanity: Scientists Versus Civilians

Snot-nosed Brown University Brats Throw Temper Tantrum

Robert Heinlein And The Distinction Between Scientist vs Academician

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