William M. Briggs

Not To Be Cannot Answer To Be: The Beautiful Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas — Guest Post by Rank Sophist

What does it mean to be? As soon as we hear someone ask this question, we become suspicious. "Is this guy a pseudo-intellectual," we wonder, "or is he trying to…

Culture

Cardinal Dolan Lectures Democrats and Republicans

His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan took to the podium at both the Democrat and Republican conventions and addressed our leaders with these most forgotten words: Help them remember that the…

Statistics

Soon & Briggs: Sunspots do impact climate

Had you thought I had forgotten about the doom that awaits us once global warming strikes (it's on it's way!)? I had not. Today's post is at the Washington Times:…

Book review Culture Philosophy

We Have Evolved Beyond Evolution: How Can Evolution Help?

There is an argument favored by some fans of evolutionary psychology that goes something like this: For the vast majority of our 150,000 years or so on the planet, we…

Book review Culture Philosophy Statistics

Reasoning To Belief: Feser’s The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism — Part Last: Skulls Full Of Nothing

Don't Think Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part Interlude, Part IV, Part V, Part VI. Part Last. Buy the book ($12.92 as of last glance). There is a…

Culture Fun

Movies I’ll Always Watch (If They’re On)

This is it! Last day of vacation, girls and boys. To honor doing nothing, here is complete fluff: a list of movies that I will always watch. These are not…

Culture Fun Statistics

Help Wanted With Ideas For Survey About Who Will Win Presidency

It's the start of the long, last week of summer (and since I've spent the bulk of it in San Francisco, there was no summer at all), where most of…

Book review Culture Philosophy

Reasoning To Belief: Feser’s The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism — Part VI: Akin And Abortion After Rape

Stop in the name of the Law! Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part Interlude, Part IV, Part V, Part VI. Part Last. Earlier this month, Missouri Congressman Todd…

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…
Briggs on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
Michael, No, it's the code. The code says "Take this X and do this and such to it," where X…
Michael 2 on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJune 18, 2025
The Large Language Models (LLM, ChatGPT kind of thing) use code to process training data. The output is NOT determined…
Hagfish Bagpipe on The Hubris Of Experts: NIH EditionJune 17, 2025
HagFISH. Sheesh

William M. Briggs

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

Eggs and ‘PFAS-Easter’ or Selling Fear on the Day of Resurrection — Guest Post by Jaap Hanekamp