William M. Briggs

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…

Culture

Review and Comments on Anna Karenina—Guest Post by the Blonde Bombshell

The movie itself is quite enjoyable. The opening is a little jarring, as the movie mixes "stage" settings with "movie" settings. The characters will march across the stage or climb…

John Pate on Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the AntsSeptember 28, 2026
We should all re-read our Ted Kaczynski materials. A man ahead of his time.
Brian (bulaoren) on Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the AntsSeptember 28, 2026
While in university, I took a class called "Symbolic Logic". Logic was then taught through the Philosophy department, which was…
Cary Cotterman on Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the AntsSeptember 28, 2026
Any giant ant who will eat Joan Collins is worth at least his weight in humans.
McChuck on Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the AntsSeptember 28, 2026
Those who lack faith (belief) in God will believe in anything. Atheism is, itself, a religion, and as such under…
NLR on Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the AntsSeptember 28, 2026
If the problem was simply that they were logical but not reasonable, that would not be great. But the real…

William M. Briggs

Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the Ants

Class 95: Answering P-Value Good Uses Challenges

Whoring For Climate Change

Lady Academics Tire Of Being Judged By Peer Review

Class 94: Quantifying The Unquantifiable

PFAS and Preservatives: Entrenching Chemophobia through Everyday Stuff — Guest Post by Jaap Hanekamp

The MRS Degree — Guest Post by Johnathan Edwards

Politicians Demand “Right” To Be Protected Against AI

Class 93: P-values Challenge! List The “Good Uses” of P-value

Is the West Dying Out? The Demographic Crisis Explained: Jon Harris Podcast

Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Kids Because Of “Climate Change”

Do Dogs Poop In Alignment With The Earth’s Magnetic Field?

Lewontin’s Other Fallacy: Race & Intelligence

Fertility Fears Overblown: Tiny Shift in Childless Rate Saves The Species

A New Kind Of University: Your Comments Wanted

Bad Black Health Blamed On Slavery

Is Moral Certainty Possible?

We Passed Peak “Climate Change” (um) Research

Sweet Wee Ps Say Sugar Makes You Lose Your Mind

AI Is Neither Artificial Nor Intelligent

You Can’t Con An Honest Man & The Case of Jason Arday