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…

Eric Kay Sci Fi on $7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?July 24, 2026
Thanks for the write-up. Thinking about things in the way of a probability distribution has always helped me, but also…
Philip Rogan on $7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?July 24, 2026
Brian, good comment. A coincidence is only a coincidence to the person to which the coincidence occurred.
John Pate on $7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?July 23, 2026
Now do Synchronicity.
Brian (bulaoren) on $7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?July 23, 2026
If a 7/11 sale occurrs in a forest, and nobody is around to document it, does it make a sound?…
Willis Eschenbach on Caution Against The Precautionary Principle: Interview with Jaap HanekampJuly 23, 2026
Thanks as always, Matt. I'd be interested in your (or anyone's) comments on my post below about the Precautionary Principle.…

William M. Briggs

$7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?

Caution Against The Precautionary Principle: Interview with Jaap Hanekamp

Believing In God Makes You Crave Potato Chips, Say Academics

Hume’s Guillotine, Euclid’s Catapult: Induction, Axioms, and Objective Ethics

University of California Prof Tries To Save System From DIEing

The Equality Paradox

My Horrible Interaction With AI

SOON

The Court’s Slow Theft Of The Constitution — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Happy Birthday to US

Never Use Or Trust P-values (Pagan-Values)

Musk Doges Deaths: Researchers Say USAID Absence Kills Kills Kills!

The Intellectual Capacity Of Women by David Stove

Marbles!

Class 92: Simple Optimal Decisions: PSA & Cancer Example

Math Is Epistemic Violence, Says Lady Academic

Truly Random Numbers Found?

Class 91: Try Not To Use the ROC Curve & AUC

Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!

The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of Answers

Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?

$7.11 at 7:11 PM on 7/11 at 7/11: What Are The Chances?

Caution Against The Precautionary Principle: Interview with Jaap Hanekamp

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