William M. Briggs

Academics Call For The Killing Of Babies In “After-Birth” Abortions

Update This is back in the news. This (lightly edited) post originally appeared 28 February 2012. Academic philosophers Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva---shockingly working in Australia1, a land where commonsense…

Statistics

EPA’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan

The EPA has asked for my advice.1 They will not listen to, or harken, or act on this advice, but asking for it gives them a sense that they have…

Culture

7-Year-Old Suspended For Carrying Unlicensed Pop Tart: Update

Did you feel it? The latest lurch towards insanity happened in Baltimore, where seven-year-old Josh Welch was suspended from school for eating a Pop Tart. Turns out he bit off…

Culture Fun

What Day Most Changed History?

Such was the title of The Atlantic's "The Big Question" column of March, 2013. This is the sort of piece one finds uppermost in the toilet's magazine rack. So now…

Fun Statistics

On Dowsing—Guest Post by Ray Kidd

I dug a one-meter square test pit outside an 18th century ruined cottage. A "dowser" invited to test his powers stood beside the pit dangling a bob on a string.…

Statistics

Science Can Tell If You’re A Racist Just By Looking At You

George Carlin used to advise those who wanted to avoid jury duty to tell the judge, "Don't worry about me, your honor. I can tell guilty people---<snap!>---just like that!" We…

Statistics

The Second & Third Most Depressing Graphs: The Encroachment Of Government

Update This stays top for today because we're still waiting for some regulars to chime in and because I'm busy. Here is federal government spending as a fraction of the…

Culture Statistics

The Most Depressing Graph: Per Capita Federal Spending Rises Alarmingly: Update

There is no more saddening picture of the progress of government than this one (the second & third most depressing graphs are here): This is the amount of money the…

Bill Hankel on How Experts Use “Calamities” to Find Official Victims & Gain PowerMay 6, 2026
I decided to accept your challenge, knowing with near certainty that your intuition was correct. I invested 15-20 seconds total…
C-Marie on Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI PachinkoMay 5, 2026
Sooo sad about Richard Dawkins. I just prayed for Holy Spirit revelation of Jesus Christ to him. Here is hoping…
Rudolph Harrier on Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI PachinkoMay 5, 2026
I once had an old freezer and I wasn't sure if it was working properly. Since at the time I…
John Pate on Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI PachinkoMay 5, 2026
Dawkins is leaning in to the idea that we've defined consciousness as what we are seeing the AI chatbots produce.…
Phileas Frogg on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerMay 5, 2026
Push the Red button then order my entire family to do the same, because we are not obligated to risk…

William M. Briggs

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

How A Miracle Turns Mundane

Contest Winner Announced!

Trump’s Last Stand: Mea Culpa, Redux — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Class 85: Proper Scores of Model Goodness

Proof!

Justice Ketanji Roars

Iran Has Caught Covid: A Reason For The War

Class 84: Most Important Measure of Model Goodness

There Is No Solution To Crashing Fertility: Good Times Made Soft Men

Did The Pope Really Say Health Is A “Right”?

All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A Model

It’s The End Of The World Again

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

Richard Dawkins, The Big Muscles Fallacy & AI Pachinko

Academics Call For The Killing Of Babies In “After-Birth” Abortions

EPA’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan

7-Year-Old Suspended For Carrying Unlicensed Pop Tart: Update

What Day Most Changed History?

On Dowsing—Guest Post by Ray Kidd

Science Can Tell If You’re A Racist Just By Looking At You

The Second & Third Most Depressing Graphs: The Encroachment Of Government

The Most Depressing Graph: Per Capita Federal Spending Rises Alarmingly: Update

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