William M. Briggs

Goodbye Ownership & Privacy: Apple, Amazon, the Government Have Your Numbers

Brian Hogan, 21, of Redwood City, California found a prototype Apple iPhone 4G accidentally left in a German Beer garden by a (soused?) Apple employee. Hogan recognized the phone for…

Philosophy Statistics

The Truth of Things: When Probability & Statistics Cannot Be Used

I am always struggling with (my limited ability of) finding ways to describe the philosophy behind logical probability, especially to people who have a difficult time unlearning classical frequentist theory.…

Fun Statistics

Poem Code Challenge Solution

Back in September we surrendered to our geek roots and described poem codes. These are a handy method of enciphering short messages in the absence of electronic equipment. A poem…

Philosophy Statistics

Is Experimental Economics Irrational?

Everybody knows there's no such thing as money. So how come everybody acts like it's real? In particular, why do economists and other similar creatures find the lack of "rationality"…

Statistics

My Answers to Willis Eschenbach’s 14 + 2 Questions

Repost Mr Eschenbach had not had the chance to respond to this article before the two weeks wherein comments are automatically closed have elapsed. This re-post will allow him, and…

Culture

Pajamas Media: The VAT Man Cometh: It Will Happen. How Bad Is It?

Today's post is at Pajamas Media: "The VAT Man Cometh: It Will Happen. How Bad Is It?" I have a ghost of an old song---big band days---hiding in the back…

Statistics

What Can Volcanic Dust Models Tell Us About Cap & Trade?

Say Eyjafjallajokull three times fast. I wish I could say it once. I've heard it in so many different forms since it blew its stack that I can't be sure…

Culture

Harvard Classes: Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball

Yesterday, we pointed out that Cornell has some odd courses on its books, subjects which are not consonant with typical expectations of a classical education. So, in the interest of…

Tars Tarkas on Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb PeopleMarch 23, 2026
IMHO, intelligence does not define moral worth. This seems to be the sticking point for people like the learned judge.…
Sid Porter on Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb PeopleMarch 23, 2026
Tread carefully here Sarge. Buried deep in Belgian law it is probably illegal to criticize judges. I hear the waffles…
Brian (bulaoren) on Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb PeopleMarch 23, 2026
The crime, of which Mr. Cofnast stands accused, is called "Noticing"; Steve Sailor wrote a book about it.
NLR on Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb PeopleMarch 23, 2026
Of course, people are not equal and the judge is misusing his authority. But to be honest, I don't care…
Robert Arvanitis on Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb PeopleMarch 23, 2026
You defend the point based on science. That is true, but the wrong basis. The correct basis is on the…

William M. Briggs

Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb People

Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?

The Great Effeminization of the Academy

The Only Metric That Matters: Or, Pinker’s Folly

Lancet Discovers Public Health Is Politics

Class 82: Be More Uncertain (About Models)

On Not Reading

The Great Smoothing: Another Reason Not To Fear (or trust) AI

A Synchronicity Or Coincidence? What Is Behind Curious Events?

Class 81: The Second Biggest Error In Time Series

The Paper Test Shows Why AGI Is Not Possible: And Why The Brain Is Different In Kind

Researcher Imagines Weather With No Human Influence: Concludes Climate Change Hurts Incomes

Faith Deposited: Why Godless Science Fails

Class 80: Granger Causality; Per Se & Accidental Time Series; Stationarity

Scientists Seeking To Escape Criticism Run To The Warmth & Comfort Of Bluesky

The Loss of Ephemera — Guest Post by The Blonde Bombshell

Class 79: Time Series Example

The Importance Of Not Making Decisions

Don’t Take The ‘Long-Covid’ Alzheimer’s Study Seriously

AI Is Driving Many Crazy: Our Latest Panic

Class 78: The Attempt To Turn Correlation Lead Into Causation Gold In Time Series