William M. Briggs

My Failure To Purchase Something In The Market Subjects Me To Regulation

The title words were spoken to Solicitor General Verrilli by Justice Scalia in yesterday's oral arguments. Scalia was making the obvious point that because he might not buy a thing…

Book review Philosophy

The Universe Created From Nothing Says Lawrence Krauss

This fragment of conversation was reported to me by a reliable witness. It occurred between a gentlemen we will call "Daffy" and Lawrence M. Krauss upon the occasion of the…

Culture

Supreme Court To Check The Doctrine Of Unintended Consequences?

This country, like all other countries, has at times lost its mind. But this country, again like all others, since it is constituted differently than the others, goes insane in…

Culture

Why You Don’t Want Free Health Care: Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Obamacare

Our reading today is from the Constitution, first Act, eighth Section, third Clause: [The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and…

Philosophy Statistics

Bayes Theorem Proves Jesus Existed And Didn’t Exist

In his shockingly neglected, A Treatise on Probability John Maynard Keynes put his finger on the difficulty people have with probability, particularly Bayes's Theorem: No other formula in the alchemy…

Culture Philosophy

Experts Say People Aren’t Smart Enough

Public Policy Polling's Tom Jensen said recently, "The first lesson you learn as a pollster is that people are stupid." Jensen represents a common attitude among media denizens that ordinary…

Fun Statistics

Global Warming Feedback Confirmed!

Just some gentle teasing today. Every climate scientist knows that it's the feedback that counts, that the few squirts of carbon dioxide contributed to the atmosphere are powerless in isolation.…

Fun

This Page Intentionally Left Blank

I was, as regular readers know, in the U.S. Air Force. I was a crypto specialist. Top Secret stuff, code words, all that. Part of the job required reading and…

John Pate on On The Form Of Species: ‘Dance To The Tune Of Life’ by Denis Noble ReviewedDecember 16, 2025
Referring to my previous comment, it's nature via nurture. In any complex system transferring the plans to the finished item…
NLR on On The Form Of Species: ‘Dance To The Tune Of Life’ by Denis Noble ReviewedDecember 16, 2025
It sounds like Noble has some good points. People are increasingly recognizing problems with reductionism. For instance, saying that things…
Bobby Dress on How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is EnvironmentDecember 15, 2025
I’m fairly certain that obtaining my degree from Cornell had the unintended consequence of lowering whatever theoretical IQ I might…
JRob on How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is EnvironmentDecember 15, 2025
I love this debate about the heritability of intelligence. The smart people use a lot math about Gaussian and Pareto…
John Pate on How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is EnvironmentDecember 15, 2025
We know we don't understand consciousness let alone intelligence. IQ testing gets a bad rep though, it's a proxy for…

William M. Briggs

On The Form Of Species: ‘Dance To The Tune Of Life’ by Denis Noble Reviewed

How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is Environment

Class 74: Contra Effect Sizes

Academic Argues For Permissibility of Cannibalism, You Racist

I Finally Read James Lindsay’s Manifesto (Yes, He Has A Manifesto)

The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As Simulation

Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad Dice

Academic Proposes Mushrooms To Avoid Compulsory Moral Bioenhancement

The Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Is Wrong: “Guns” are not the leading cause of death in kids

The Perfect Conspiracy Theory

Old Lodge Skins’ Prayer Of Thanksgiving

The Apples In A Sack Paradox: Solve It Or You Get No Pie Tomorrow

Antichrist, by Saint Robert Bellarmine

Donald vs Ishmael vs Esau — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Class 72: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Wrong Way

Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says Researcher

On That “Bombshell German Study” That “Exposes the PCR Test Fraud That Locked Down the World”

Masking Morality With Science: Men Pretending To Be Women In Sports

Why Study Probability?

The Dysgenics Of IVF

In Which An Atheist Becomes Sputteringly Angry Over Theist’s Argument