William M. Briggs

The Data Is The Data, Not The Model: With Climatology Time Series Example

How not to plot The following plot was sent to me yesterday for comment. I cannot disclose the sender, nor the nature of the data, but neither of these are…

Fun

Fats Waller—Your Feet’s Too Big

I was reminded of Fats because an album of his was one of the best Christmas presents I ever received. And 'tis the season.

Statistics

On-Line Statistics Course: Ideas And Your Opinions

We talked about this a couple of months ago, but now the time is nigh to build and create an on-line statistics course, or courses. There are several problems: content,…

Culture Statistics

Were Medications Responsible For The Connecticut Lanza Murders?

Some are speculating that the evil, and thank God dead, Adam Lanza was on SSRIs, which are medications designed to mess with your mind (in the pleasantest of ways), and…

Statistics

Politico’s Biased Reporting Of Its Own Poll

Today's post is over at Legal Insurrection. The headline, helpfully supplied by William Jacobson, is "Politico poll showing 'plurality support' for gay marriage also shows majority opposition." Headline writing is…

Fun

Reader Poll: Mayan Apocalypse, For or Against?

In just over a week, on 21 December, it will be the glorious End of Times or it will be just over a week from today. Which is to be…

Culture Statistics

What Can We Learn From A Crude Model Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases?

It's Statistical Modeling Day, so let's look at one dealing with sexually transmitted diseases. Why this subject? Well, according to New York's CBS 2, "Study Shows Soaring STD Rates In…

Fun Philosophy

Transhumanists Gather In San Francisco

My first thought when I read the title of today's post (from Bioedge) was that it was some kind of warning. Look out! It's the transhumanists! And then I figured…

spetzer86 on Death By Organ DonationJuly 28, 2026
Right out of the old Monty Python skit where the guy was a "liver donor" and the guys came to…
The Four Chords of Modern Music - Roadie Music Blog on Four Chords Is All You Need: The Limited Nature of Pop MusicJuly 28, 2026
[…] Four Chords Is All You Need: The Limited Nature of Pop Music […]
Mary Sova on Wolfgang Smith For EveryoneJuly 28, 2026
I caught a small portion your interview with Ken Craycraft on my car radio yesterday, but didn't realize it was…
shawn marshall on Wolfgang Smith For EveryoneJuly 28, 2026
I'm not able to digest a lot of your essay but able to glean some fuzzy notions of the points…
JH on Death By Organ DonationJuly 27, 2026
Here they have no authority: none whatsoever. Is this an appeal to authority used in reverse? It seems that Dr.…

William M. Briggs

Wolfgang Smith For Everyone

Death By Organ Donation

$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!