William M. Briggs

What Organic Boors, Swedish Pronouns, And The Exorcist Have In Common

Not much, except to demonstrate that the natural state of modernity is something closely resembling mass lunacy. To explain. Swedish Pronouns Via Sam Schulman â€(Twitter: @Sam_Schulman) we infer that 1984…

Statistics

How To Present Anything As Significant. Update: Nature Weighs In

Update The paper on which this post was based has hit the presses which was used as an occasion for Nature to opine that, just maybe, that some of the…

Culture

Holocaust Survivor Compares Climate Skeptics To Hitler Deniers

Micha Tomkiewicz is a physicist who tells us he was a child in the Warsaw Ghetto and Bergen-Belsen during World War II when the Nazis (and Soviets) were gleefully murdering…

Culture Philosophy

Dutch Doctors’ Strange New House Calls

Dr Overlijden of Levenseindekliniek A new contest is in order, if it doesn't already exist. Each year we should recognize and award the person or group who invents the best…

Philosophy Statistics

The Probability Of Nonsense In Science: Complexity & Verification

This is a work in progress, and today is a busy day. This is just for fun and for you to play with. The more complex the field of study,…

Fun Statistics

Sleeping Beauty Probability Problem

Update This has been moved up from its original 29 Feb 2012 date on 23 March 2012 to allow additional comments. Update This has been moved up from its original…

Philosophy

The Implications Of Moral Insignificance

In her piece "In Praise of Insignificance" in Scientific American, Jennifer Ouellette says, If one embraces an atheist worldview, it necessarily requires embracing, even celebrating, one's insignificance. It's a tall…

Culture

Another Academic Says Climate Skeptics Criminals Against Humanity And Other Name Calling

In a talk at some "sustainability" something-or-other seminar---one this is sure: we're not going to soon run out of climate conclaves---academic Donald Brown told his audience (25 min. mark) that…

John Pate on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerApril 30, 2026
I would press the red button because it's the red button. The bigger the red button the harder you hit…
Polybius II on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerApril 29, 2026
"their Other Lives’ Value premise is something vague about man, but not men" I am reminded of a british comedian…
Johnno on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerApril 29, 2026
But do we get time to explain to everyone and have them all sit down and have a discussion before…
gareth on Class 87: Calibration & Conformal Prediction: ExamplesApril 29, 2026
Timestamp 21:35: A "correction" from 0.8 to 1.0 is a "correction factor" of 1.25, not 0.2 (akshully wot you mean…
Cato on The Red-Blue Button Dilemma & Its Surprising AnswerApril 29, 2026
There’s no point to a world without me; of course I press Red.

William M. Briggs

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

How A Miracle Turns Mundane

Contest Winner Announced!

Trump’s Last Stand: Mea Culpa, Redux — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Class 85: Proper Scores of Model Goodness

Proof!

Justice Ketanji Roars

Iran Has Caught Covid: A Reason For The War

Class 84: Most Important Measure of Model Goodness

There Is No Solution To Crashing Fertility: Good Times Made Soft Men

Did The Pope Really Say Health Is A “Right”?

All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A Model

It’s The End Of The World Again

Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb People

Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?