William M. Briggs

Hurricane Irene: End Of The World? Obligatory Global Warming Post

What do you call a Japanese lady with one leg shorter than the other? Irene! Ha ha ha ha! But, seriously. Hurricanes are no joke. Particularly this one, which the…

Statistics

The Increased And Increasing Chinese Military

More on matters that don't appear to be as urgent as they are. From the DoD's annual report on Chinese military capability, "In 2004, Hu Jintao articulated a mission statement…

Statistics

Detecting Deceptive Opinion Spam

Ever seen a review like this? My husband and I satayed for two nights at the Hilton Chicago,and enjoyed every minute of it! The bedrooms are immaculate,and the linnens are…

Culture Philosophy

Conversation With A Progressive: The British Riots

Nigel Shocking, just shocking these riots. Wouldn't you agree? David No. I'd say rather that they were expected. Nigel Too right they were. These youth were disaffected. Nothing but products…

Philosophy Statistics

Logical Probability And The IPCC’s Ambiguous Forecasts

This post is inspired by Roger Pielke, Jr., as well as Bernie, Matt, and other readers who asked me to have a look at some IPCC probability statements. Roger Pielke,…

Culture

Court Of Appeals: Obama Cares Too Much

One of the sharpest and most compelling arguments of the left is how easily an economy based on democracy can devolve into crony capitalism. Once companies becomes rich enough to…

Fun

Is My Site Visible In China? Strange Request Day

Update: 2:30 PM PST. The database was corrupted most of the day. I believe I have isolated the problem (I hope). All comments made today were lost. I apologize for…

Fun Statistics

Alien Invasions To Increase Because Of Global Warming, Scientists

Eco-warriors from beyond the skies are on their way to destroy our world before we do---women and minorities are expected to be hardest hit---according to a shocking new report from…

NLR on Against Numerology: Some Basic CalculationsOctober 19, 2026
The mathematician Richard Guy wrote a paper "The strong law of small numbers", where he said, facetiously, but also serirously:…
aGrimm on Book UpdateOctober 16, 2026
I'm looking forward to the book; warts and all the first was enlightening and fun to read.
John Pate on Book UpdateOctober 14, 2026
I'm a big fan of LaTeX. I wrote a class package that made it into one or more of the…
Ursula on Book UpdateOctober 14, 2026
i have your first edition which I read, pencil in hand foor the typos. Loved it anyway! Will be buying…
Brian (buaoren) on Book UpdateOctober 14, 2026
Hello again, friend Briggs How colloquial is your French? Please allow me to be te first to wish you; Merde!

William M. Briggs

Against Numerology: Some Basic Calculations

Class 97: The Goal Of Models

Book Update

Sexual Assault Galore At Cornell

Class 96: Can Bayesianism Quantify True Belief?

Top 10 Reasons AI Will Never Become Superintelligence: It Won’t Destroy Nor Save Us

Viewer Asks: Why Do I Bother?

Academics Call For The Killing Of Babies In “After-Birth” Abortions

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