William M. Briggs

Freeman Dyson, NPR, TSA X-rays, Northwestern University’s Bachelor Party

The Lady Tasting Tea continues tomorrow. Freeman Dyson Speaks From our man-on-the-spot WS comes this link to an interview with Freeman Dyson regarding his work "In Praise of Heretics." That…

Culture

Vicar Of Vintage Vinyl Vanquished: Danny Stiles Dead At 87

It finally happened, though we thought, we hoped, he would go on forever. Danny Stiles, radio personality in the New York metro area for over 60 years, died on Friday,…

Culture Philosophy Statistics

Obama’s Faulty Pay Gap Statistics, Philosophy Of Abortion; Plus, The End Of The World

Deadline: 21 May 2011 Family Radio Worldwide has hit the road (in a bunch of mobile homes) to preach that the end shall come just over two months from now.…

Culture

Earthquake Ghouls, Colleges As High Schools, The Robinson DeFazio Controversy, More

J-school Ghouls On the radio, a female American reporter in Tokyo, unnecessarily breathless and somewhat disappointed. "I can only imagine if it were here, it would have been much worse…

Philosophy

The Sorites Paradox Isn’t

Clearly, a guy with no hair on his head is bald. But so is a guy with just one---if and only if we define bald as "a man with little…

Philosophy Statistics

Group Differences: An Exceedingly Brief Introduction To Bayesian Predictive Inference

Read the first entry in this series. All of what follows will appear ridiculously obvious to those who have had no statistical training. Those who have must struggle. In a…

Statistics

Iowahawk Does Statistics—-Properly!

Thanks to the many readers who sent in this tip. The Iowahawk, a.k.a. David Burge, the beloved assassin of pomposity and pretension has taken the often hysterical Paul "Global Warming…

Philosophy Statistics

Global Average Temperature: An Exceedingly Brief Introduction To Bayesian Predictive Inference

Update This post is mandatory reading for those discussing global average temperature. I mean it: exceedingly brief and given only with respect to a univariate time series, such as operationally…

Cary D Cotterman on Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis ShootingJanuary 13, 2026
No news source is perfect. Fox openly owns their conservative point of view. NPR lies about being unbiased. Even with…
Tars Tarkas on Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis ShootingJanuary 13, 2026
"(I have in the queue a story on confirmation bias of academic Experts that confirms my bias that academic Experts…
Stan on Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis ShootingJanuary 13, 2026
Around 2013, I obtained all death certificate data from the state of California for the years 2000-2012. I posted on…
Briggs on Sports Betting Is An Excellent Way To Lose MoneyJanuary 13, 2026
Anon. I believe you'll find they are the same. I did a little shorthand by first taking the absolute value…
Anonymous on Sports Betting Is An Excellent Way To Lose MoneyJanuary 13, 2026
Errata: your moneyline formula should have (x - 100) in the denominator for -x.

William M. Briggs

Confirmation Bias In The Minneapolis Shooting

Sports Betting Is An Excellent Way To Lose Money

Class 75: A Gentle Introduction To Time Series

The Consent Fallacy

On Laws Banning Hacking Women’s Genitals & Imposing Beliefs

Register Your Predictions For 2026!

Happy New Year!

How Did We Do In Our 2025 Predictions?

Why The Drake Equation Fails

Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor Killings

Merry Christmas!

Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By Science

Why British & EU Rulers Are Juicing War With Russia

Climate Models

Is Powerball A “Fair Game”?

No Class: But Here’s Some Homework

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)