William M. Briggs

Appeals Court Confirms TSA X-Ray Strip Search Validity

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has confirmed that criminals and suspected criminals have more rights and more protections under the Fourth Amendment than do citizens who…

Philosophy Statistics

Some Common Global Warming Fallacies

The level of debate on global warming is shriekingly poor. Not that I have any hope of convincing the world to reject bad logic, but here are some of the…

Culture Statistics

The Horrible Dangers Of Third-Hand Smoke

All countries have been known to periodically lose their minds. France in 1789 banned religion by the point of a blade, Russia in 1917 banned freedom by the barrel of…

Culture

California Requires LGBT History In Textbooks; The Disabled, Too

The rulers of the State of California are very unhappy with their subjects and their backward and old fashioned ideas; and, darn it, the rulers are just not going to…

Philosophy

The Economic Fallacy, Greenpeace, David Suzuki, And Global Warming

"You can't believe what that guy says. He research was funded by Greenpeace!" The person uttering this sentence has committed the economic fallacy, which is the belief that the truth…

Book review

Earth Has A Fever: How Can We Cool It?

Earth Fever: Living Consciously with Climate Change by Judy McAllister, Erik van Praag, and Jan Paul van Soest With Foreword by Hazel Henderson and Preface, by Jacqueline Cramer, Minister for…

Philosophy Statistics

Bathroom Stage Fright A “Real Condition” : Scientists Again Prove What Was Already Known

In standard science-report prose, MSNBC begins: Given the choice, you probably prefer your home porcelain throne to using a public toilet. But for more than 20 million people in North…

Fun Statistics

Does Second To Fourth Digit Ratio Predict You-Know-What Length?

From the storied Halls of Science comes an important new study, here abstracted from the Asian Journal of Andrology1. I apologize for the length of this excerpt, but it is…

Johnno on England’s Mandatory Suicide & WomenJune 27, 2025
So what's the betting pool on the odds about when and in which country will be the first to perform…
Johnno on Sabine Hossenfelder’s Free Will Folly & The Deadly Sin Of ReificationJune 27, 2025
Here's another example of reified models in action... and what a consequence! The Key Nuclear Allegation That Started the War…
NLR on Sabine Hossenfelder’s Free Will Folly & The Deadly Sin Of ReificationJune 26, 2025
One can make an argument that the models of physics exist in the minds of physicists and the fact that…
Shack Toms on What Are The Chances Thomas Jefferson & John Adams Died On The Fourth of July, 1826?June 26, 2025
What is the probability that today is July 4, 2025? Somehow, I think this is a matter of my perspective.…
The True Nolan on Sabine Hossenfelder’s Free Will Folly & The Deadly Sin Of ReificationJune 26, 2025
"Those equations are her model of the world, and to her the model is the world. That is the Deadly…

William M. Briggs

Class 56: The Best Model!

Sabine Hossenfelder’s Free Will Folly & The Deadly Sin Of Reification

England’s Mandatory Suicide & Women

On The Probability Of God

Class 55: Models Vs Reality

AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded Output

The Hubris Of Experts: NIH Edition

The Mathematics Of Conspiracy Theories. Part 1: Black Eye Club Example

Class 54: Exchangeability & Parameters

Over-Certainty Of Polygenic Scores

AI & The Dilemma Of Technology

What Are The Chances Thomas Jefferson & John Adams Died On The Fourth of July, 1826?

Class 53: Laplace Was Right!

Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering Out

Expert Nathan Confas: Experts Know Best

Science Claims 7% Of Adults Saw A Mass Shooting

Class 52: The Origin Of Parameters

IQ Is Not Intelligence

What Are The Chances…George Wendt Dies On Same Day Cheers Ended 32 Years Before?

Class 51: Bayes Is Only A Formula

Blacks Have Black Fatigue: Who Is At Fault?