William M. Briggs

Review and Comments on Anna Karenina—Guest Post by the Blonde Bombshell

The movie itself is quite enjoyable. The opening is a little jarring, as the movie mixes "stage" settings with "movie" settings. The characters will march across the stage or climb…

Philosophy Statistics

Precaution: Part II—Guest Post by J.C. Hanekamp

For all the flurry surrounding precaution---being portrayed as a decisional/procedural instrument to protect human and environmental health from the (potential) dangers of human activities---the history shows that we are dealing…

Culture Philosophy

The HHS Mandate & Hobby Lobby: Updated

I'm a little late with this; pressures of work. Nevertheless, it's Hobby Lobby appreciation day. Open letter from CEO. One day the department of Health and Human Services sat in…

Culture Philosophy

Who Is A Mother When Same-Sex “Marriage” Arrives?

A headline in the 2 January 2013 The Telegraph ran: First baby born in France in 2013 has two mothers The story informs us the birth mother is named Maude,…

Philosophy Statistics

Precaution: Part I — Guest Post by J.C. Hanekamp

The can things with the sharp little edges That can cut your fingers when you're not looking The soft little things on the floor that you step on They can…

Culture Fun

American Atheists, Hispanic Division Sues Federal Government Over Documents

The American Atheists have once again filed suit, this time against the Federal Government over its use of the Spanish language in official documents. The litigious group has previously sued…

Culture Fun Statistics

How’d Our 2012 Predictions Fare?

We didn't have a such a bad year making picks---here's the list. Make predictions for 2013 here. Yours truly picked Mitt Romney as president. A wishcast not a forecast! A…

Fun Statistics

Predictions 2013—Register Yours Today!

Time for our annual guessing game about what's to come for 2013. The predictions we made for 2012 will be posted and analyzed tomorrow. We have one week to enter…

shawn marshall on Academics Debate Which Term Best Describes Those Who Love (in that way) Their PillowsNovember 10, 2025
all I can say is "Oh my" Romans 1: 16-32 I think
Johnno on Little Nate’s Plan To Save The WorldNovember 9, 2025
Facts and logic are very diverse things. As diverse as peoples, with diverse facts and diverse ways of logicking. Liberal…
Darin Johnson on Class 70: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Right WayNovember 9, 2025
Thank you for your answer, Professor. So the prediction interval is useful for predicting the number of failures among the…
Briggs on Class 70: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Right WayNovember 8, 2025
Darin, There is no interval around a probability (with esoteric exceptions not of interest to us). All your evidence is…
Darin Johnson on Class 70: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Right WayNovember 8, 2025
I'm struggling to extrapolate this to the case when the thing I'm estimating is a probability. Let's say I observe…

William M. Briggs

Academics Debate Which Term Best Describes Those Who Love (in that way) Their Pillows

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