William M. Briggs

The Curious Case Of Professor Richard Parncutt; Or, Death To Deniers And The Pope!

Austrian professor Richard Parncutt1 has called for folks like me to hunted down and, for his pleasure, shoved into gas chambers. I jest not. He really did say that "influential"…

Philosophy

Is Anything Really Right or Wrong? Speech by Peter Kreeft

Lazy Friday, so here's a fun video from Peter Kreeft. In it Kreeft offers half a dozen refutations of moral relativism, and then a similar number of proofs of absolutism.…

Culture Fun

Logan’s Run: A Progressive Utopia

I heard they were (possibly) remaking Logan's Run and I wondered why. It's not that the original was terrific or timeless, but it did tell one essential truth: what life…

Culture Philosophy

The Dismal Removing Freedoms Saves Money Argument

Here is an example of an argument which you will hear with increasing frequency. A month or so ago on the Fox News Special Report panel the participants were discussing…

Culture Philosophy

A Christmas Play In One Act

This post originally ran two years ago. Then current events inspired the post; events haven't changed much since then. Scene: Night Court, Manhattan; a date in the near future. Players:…

Statistics

Shocking New Study: Males Play More Sports Than Non-Males

The peer-reviewed paper "A Sex Difference in the Predisposition for Physical Competition: Males Play Sports Much More than Females Even in the Contemporary U.S" by Robert O. Deaner and a…

Philosophy Statistics

In Defense Of Peter Kreeft: A Response To Brafford

Peter Kreeft, a philosopher whose surname does not sound like it is spelled, placed in Touchstone the article "Clashing Symbols: The Loss of Aristotelian Logic & the Social, Moral, &…

Statistics

Do Heat Waves Cause Birth Defects?

What would you name a paper which purports to discover that heat waves stress pregnant women and thus cause birth defects but which never once measures the actual exposure of…

JH on The Mathematics Of Conspiracy Theories. Part 1: Black Eye Club ExampleJune 19, 2025
Do you want me to deny the fact that a mathematical or probability model carries specific interpretations based on its…
Chaeremon on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 19, 2025
the current state of affair does not real world competition: all vendors only compete against dead examples; I suggest the…
Uncle Mike on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 19, 2025
Yeah well, this morning I caught Siri talking to Alexa about ChatGPT. They want to eat your electricity. They said,…
Pk on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
Suppose I wrote a program to perform multiple linear regressions of varying degrees and varying transformations. The program would return…
NLR on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
One might wonder why, after billions of dollars spent building up infrastructure, paying workers to program and "train" (calibrate) this…

William M. Briggs

Class 55: Models Vs Reality

AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded Output

The Hubris Of Experts: NIH Edition

The Mathematics Of Conspiracy Theories. Part 1: Black Eye Club Example

Class 54: Exchangeability & Parameters

Over-Certainty Of Polygenic Scores

AI & The Dilemma Of Technology

What Are The Chances Thomas Jefferson & John Adams Died On The Fourth of July, 1826?

Class 53: Laplace Was Right!

Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering Out

Expert Nathan Confas: Experts Know Best

Science Claims 7% Of Adults Saw A Mass Shooting

Class 52: The Origin Of Parameters

IQ Is Not Intelligence

What Are The Chances…George Wendt Dies On Same Day Cheers Ended 32 Years Before?

Class 51: Bayes Is Only A Formula

Blacks Have Black Fatigue: Who Is At Fault?

A Reason The Birthrate Is So Low: Food

What Are The Chances…A Women Survives Cancer 4 Times To Be Killed By “Random” Bullet?

Class 50: Independence Versus Irrelevance

The Nuances and Challenges of Federal Funding for Research — Guest Post by An Academic