William M. Briggs

Predictions of E-Books And Reading Verified?

Just something quick today; I mean written quickly. Typo alert! Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published "Authors Feel Pinch in Age of E-Books", in which are various observations that appear…

Culture Statistics

How To Guarantee Enthusiastic College Students

I Didn't Do My Homework Apathy is contagious. I discovered this after only two of the forty-five students registered for the statistics class I teach bothered to do their homework…

Book review Culture Statistics

Reading Lyrics by Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball

First, thanks, Google. Aren't you all sweethearts. 10100 != F1 + F4 + F6 + F9. Reading Lyrics: More than a thousand of the finest lyrics from 1900 to 1975.…

Culture Fun

USDA Bans Delicacy? Pork Blood Cake Candles Snuffed Out

Continuing our popular theme of pig innards, we focus today on blood, and prove that there is a little vampire in all of us. Yet our bureaucrats seek to disguise…

Fun Statistics

The Mathematics of Boneless Pork Rectums

Ever wonder what's in those delicious dumplings? What gives them that special tang? The flavor that cannot quite be named? Wonder no further! For the secret has been revealed. And…

Fun Statistics

The Sports Illustrated curse and regression to the mean

Due to overwhelming demand, today's column is a classic reprint. This originally appeared on 18 January 2008. The headlines of today's New York Daily News is CURSES! It seems the…

Philosophy

The Tolerance Paradox

First, our official definition of a paradox: A puzzle concocted with premises we know are false but which lead to a conclusion we wish were true. Thus, because the conclusion…

Book review Philosophy Statistics

Causality: Guest Post by DAV

Today's guest post, on a subject dear to us all, is by long-time reader (and now contributor) DAV. While fencing in many of the Web's blogs it's not uncommon to…

Neil Upton on Don’t Lose Sleep Over Research On “Climate Change” & Sleep ApneaJuly 10, 2025
some time ago it was said that to ensure a research grant the proposal should make reference to global boiling.…
Uncle Mike on Don’t Lose Sleep Over Research On “Climate Change” & Sleep ApneaJuly 9, 2025
The Climate Catastrophe paradigm is dead. RIP. The old adherents are howling at the moon, but Science has moved on.…
Cloudbuster on Don’t Lose Sleep Over Research On “Climate Change” & Sleep ApneaJuly 9, 2025
"New York and Ohio, which are cool" Please explain to my sweat glands how Ohio is cool so I shouldn't…
Cary Cotterman on What’s Wrong With The Golf Course Parkinson’s StudyJuly 8, 2025
There is a significant correlation between golf and the wearing of ugly pants.
Rudolph Harrier on What’s Wrong With The Golf Course Parkinson’s StudyJuly 8, 2025
Yeah, the second I heard "Olmstead County" my mind went to the Mayo Clinic too. Both the Mayo Clinic proper…

William M. Briggs

Class 57: The Second Best Model

Don’t Lose Sleep Over Research On “Climate Change” & Sleep Apnea

What’s Wrong With The Golf Course Parkinson’s Study

The Unseen Bias In All Science

The Sad End Of Radio

Let’s Play A Game Of Let’s Suppose!

Test Your IQ With These Puzzles! (Not So Easy!)

How Can You Tell If You Have ESP?

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!