William M. Briggs

Good Ways Of Speaking About Truth

"Quid est veritas?" Pilate asked. Famously, his interlocutor did not answer, perhaps because Pilate didn't give Him the chance. Then Pilate may have been (understandably) addled because the Answer was…

Philosophy Statistics

Bad Ways Of Speaking About Truth

Easy It is true that all men are mortal. It is also true that 2 + 3 = 5. Yet it is not "true" that all men are mortal, nor…

Fun

Dinner With Atheists: A Mini-Play In One Act

SCENE: The monthly meeting of the Madison Atheists Evangelization Society at the I-12 Marriot Courtyard's Badger Room, a rambunctious group sitting at a table, long side to the audience, like…

Statistics

Regression To The Mean (And Performance Curses) Simply Explained

I've just read about The Second Term Curse which supposedly besets (of course) second-term presidents. There is also the infamous Sports Illustrated Curse, which is said to befall athletes soon…

Statistics

Sam Harris Asks, “Can Science Answer Moral Questions?” No, Sam, It Cannot

I was having a back-and-forth on Twitter with Craig Mazin â€(@clmazin) about Sam Harris's claim that morality is a scientific and not a metaphysical question. As evidence, Mazin pointed me…

Culture Philosophy

The Unbelievers: The Movie. Richard Dawkins & Lawrence Krauss On Tour

A camera followed two village atheists on their wanderings, spliced together some of their less tedious talks, sprinkled in a few celebrity cameos, such as one by noted scientist Woody…

Culture Statistics

The Horrors And Hurt Feelings Of Profiling

"Ver are your papers!" "Um. Hang on. I'm sure I have them on me. Wait. Here," said the man, handing them over. The clerk examined them closely. He arched his…

Culture Fun

Knife-Wielding Teens Invade High School

What you are about to read is a true story. The question is why none of this has been picked up in the media. In late March a "flash mob"…

RANDOM TIDS & BITS- Thu 3/20/24- – WAXX on The Sports Illustrated curse and regression to the meanNovember 6, 2025
[…] Illustrated” once determined that their cover is a JINX 37% of the time. So about two out of every five…
Uncle Mike on Class 71: Never Trust ‘Research Shows’ Headlines: We Bring Cause To DataNovember 6, 2025
Homework discussion re Utts: It may be useful to note that syncretic hermeticism begins with the Egyptian god Thoth who…
Hagfish Bagpipe on Diversity Patrol Scanning Citations For VictimsNovember 5, 2025
"Consider this article one man addressing it." And doing such a fine job that none of your adversaries dare address…
Cary D Cotterman on Diversity Patrol Scanning Citations For VictimsNovember 5, 2025
When I was writing papers and technical reports, I cited the papers from which I got the information I needed.…
Lab Rat on Diversity Patrol Scanning Citations For VictimsNovember 5, 2025
Most of the time papers only have the first initial in the citation author list - how the heck am…

William M. Briggs

Class 71: Never Trust ‘Research Shows’ Headlines: We Bring Cause To Data

Diversity Patrol Scanning Citations For Victims

Little Nate’s Plan To Save The World

Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education Causes Mass Squealing

Stay The Course: Have Some Class

Last Call For Alcohol-Cancer Papers

UFO Hits United Flight. All Survive. This Time!

Changes Are Coming: Our Return to 1970s

Class 70: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Right Way

The Triumph Of The Feminine

At What Point Does Transsexualism Become A Conservative Value?

The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had

Class 69: Why Parameters Don’t Exist

Putin, Xi Who Must Obeyed, Occult Rituals & Living Forever

Nobody Believes Anything Based On “No Evidence”

Good Vs Bad Science (Models) & How You Can Tell The Difference: Think Twice Science

Class 68: The Philosophy Of Models (Regression): The WRONG Way

The Lancet’s New Push To Ban Meat

‘Termination Shock’: Newest Entry In Science Doom Naming Contest

Changing Clocks In Fall Will Stroke You Out, Fatty: Research

Class 67: The Philosophy Of Models (Regression): The Right Way