William M. Briggs

Precaution: Part V (Final)—Guest Post by J.C. Hanekamp

Read Part IV Trying to create an ideal world by precautionary design carries utopian overtones of a nostalgic streak, also known the pastoral ideal that is so well described by…

Statistics

Privatization Kills?: Or, Doctors Under Government Control Save More Lives?

Quick, answer this without thinking: which is better for your health, living under a communist regime or a capitalist system? If you said "communist", may I wager you're an academic?…

Culture Statistics

Adjusted Mass Public Shootings per Decade Uncorrelated With Gun Ownership

Here are the Mass Public Shootings per Decade from the 1900s through 2012, adjusted for population. The rate is mass-shootings per million per decade, using the average population of the…

Philosophy Statistics

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

Read Part III. Science plays an interesting role in precautionary culture. Overall, science is looked at in our culture as a discerning field of advice in terms of numerous aspects…

Culture

What Happened to the News?—Guest Post by the Blonde Bombshell

My father was a wire editor of our local paper. Even though the paper was "local" and covered a few counties, there was much more news than who married, who…

Statistics

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

Read Part II. Precaution is essential, so the tale goes, to create policies and laws that focus on and tackle uncertainty that might be the foreboding of particular risks. The…

Fun Philosophy

Is There Free Will? A Conversation With Dr. Sam Hurtus

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1MbL6wbg1Y&w=560&h=315] I got the idea for this from regular reader Jim Fedako, who points us to a cute video showing the screwiness of p-values. Turns out the video was…

Statistics

Anthropogenic Forcing Signals Not Significant? New Polynomial Cointegration Test Paper

I have been asked by a number of people to comment on a new paper that purportedly shows that "statistical tests for global warming fails to find statistically significantly anthropogenic…

Steve on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 5, 2026
The bikini rule -- less is more, but it has to cover all the important stuff. As with human bodies,…
Heresolong on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 5, 2026
Yes.
Jose Miro Julia on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 5, 2026
I'd prefer 3-4 short ones a week.
Ivdas Machabevs on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
Longer, deeper, rarer.
Jean Lesperance on Reader Poll: Shorter or Longer, Frequent or Rarer Posts?June 4, 2026
Rather than short or long, I prefer "significant" posts. These days energy and religion aka morals are particular interests. Your…

William M. Briggs

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

No Model Will Save Us: Pope Leo, the Miserostat, and AI’s Woke Coders

How High an IQ Must A Person Have To Be Executed?

Class 90: Simple (Optimal) Decisions

Shocking Abortion Numbers: Death Distributions Show We’re Living Longer

Blessed Memorial Day; No Class; See You Wednesday

Why There Are (Probably) No UFOs: “Climate Change”

Creating Microbial Monsters To Terrorize Ourselves

Class 89: The Measure Most Modelers Forget: Skill Examples

The Shocking Conclusion of the HR Trilemma!

The HR Trilemma: Which Door Decides Your Fate?

Capital Punishment Deters Crime More Than The Death Penalty

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

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

No Model Will Save Us: Pope Leo, the Miserostat, and AI’s Woke Coders

Precaution: Part V (Final)—Guest Post by J.C. Hanekamp

Privatization Kills?: Or, Doctors Under Government Control Save More Lives?

Adjusted Mass Public Shootings per Decade Uncorrelated With Gun Ownership

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

What Happened to the News?—Guest Post by the Blonde Bombshell

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

Is There Free Will? A Conversation With Dr. Sam Hurtus

Anthropogenic Forcing Signals Not Significant? New Polynomial Cointegration Test Paper

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