William M. Briggs

Epidemiology, Causality, And P-Values: Part I

A standard epidemiological study goes like this: people who have been "exposed" to some thing, say, cell phone radiation, are examined to discover whether or not they have some malady.…

Culture

What The Sale of Barnes and Nobel Means To Reading

Not too long ago, on the outdoor-shopping-mall-like 86th street in New York City---chain stores everywhere---Barnes and Noble opened a new store. Enormous, wide aisled (a rarity for stores in the…

Culture

California Judge Reverses Prop 8: A Right To Marriage?

A judge in California has, as we have all heard, struck down the publicly created law which bans two-person, same-sex marriage. This was no surprise, as most expected that this…

Philosophy

Shermer Tries, And Fails, To Take Down Chopra

Aurora last night masked by clouds. Saw plenty of bats. Here is a review of another article you might like to read. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, tried to…

Statistics

Manzi: What Social Science Does—and Doesn’t—Know

This article is nothing but an extended link to a must-read piece in City Journal. Internet still once daily. Thanks to reader I. for suggesting this topic. If you haven't…

Culture Statistics

Everybody Has A Mental Disease: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5

I am so far Up North that I heard a radio interview with Uncle Ted Nugnet on the best kinds of arrowheads to bring down feral pigs. Internet still only…

Philosophy Statistics

Correlation and Causality: Have A Drink, Get Rich

I am down to one brief internet connection daily, found, intermittently, at a coffee shop in town. I apologize for lack of or slowness in answering questions. According to the…

Statistics

Three Cards: One Black, One Red, One Half & Half

Just a short one today, all. I'm heading further North. So far from civilization that when I was a boy, it was a cause to celebrate when a cit thirty…

Cary D Cotterman on I Finally Read James Lindsay’s Manifesto (Yes, He Has A Manifesto)December 9, 2025
Lindsay seems to have a grudge against common sense and those who have it.
John Pate on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
…another way of putting it, more succinctly: consciousness does not have the halting problem.
John Pate on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
The most straightforward indicator that computers don't have minds is that computers don't exist in the eternal now. They have…
gareth on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 8, 2025
Well, having made it all the way through, my takeaways were: 1. The answer to the question, "what is the…
NLR on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
It can't be simulations all the way down because a simulation needs an underlying reality to simulate. But also, in…

William M. Briggs

I Finally Read James Lindsay’s Manifesto (Yes, He Has A Manifesto)

The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As Simulation

Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad Dice

Academic Proposes Mushrooms To Avoid Compulsory Moral Bioenhancement

The Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Is Wrong: “Guns” are not the leading cause of death in kids

The Perfect Conspiracy Theory

Old Lodge Skins’ Prayer Of Thanksgiving

The Apples In A Sack Paradox: Solve It Or You Get No Pie Tomorrow

Antichrist, by Saint Robert Bellarmine

Donald vs Ishmael vs Esau — Guest Post by Ianto Watt

Class 72: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Wrong Way

Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says Researcher

On That “Bombshell German Study” That “Exposes the PCR Test Fraud That Locked Down the World”

Masking Morality With Science: Men Pretending To Be Women In Sports

Why Study Probability?

The Dysgenics Of IVF

In Which An Atheist Becomes Sputteringly Angry Over Theist’s Argument

Academics Debate Which Term Best Describes Those Who Love (in that way) Their Pillows

Class 71: Never Trust ‘Research Shows’ Headlines: We Bring Cause To Data

Diversity Patrol Scanning Citations For Victims

Little Nate’s Plan To Save The World