Philosophy – Page 99 – William M. Briggs

Entry For The Most Pompous Statement Of Scientism

Our friend John Cook came (via The Renaissance Mathematicus) across what is easily one of the most pompous declarations by a scientist we have ever seen. The words came from…

Philosophy Statistics

What Is And What We Know Of It, Probabilistically Speaking

Ontology is the study of what is and what is not. Epistemology is the study of our knowledge of what is and what is not. Though there are obvious points…

Book review Philosophy

Author Says Machines Will Take Over The World

At the Singularity awaits The Beast. Or so says James Barrat in Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era (Yours Truly only read the free…

Culture Philosophy

Could A Virgin Birth Ever Really Happen?

In an article Salon mistitled "About that 'immaculate' conception"1---the immaculate conception speaks of St Mary's entry into the world, not Jesus's---Daniel Engber, a developmental neuroscientist at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, gives us…

Culture Philosophy Statistics

Friedrich A. Hayek’s Lecture “The Pretense of Knowledge”

This was reprinted in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend. I've chopped it into parts for commenting. To act on the belief that we possess the knowledge and the…

Philosophy Statistics

What Random Means In Random Number Generation

Thinking about one-time pads reminded me to point this out. It's simple, really. A "random" number generator spits out a string of numbers or characters from some set, say c1,…

Fun Philosophy

Winner Announced in What Do You Call A Believer In Scientism Contest

More than 50 people entered some 100 words. I grouped these into three-plus-one categories: Honorable Mentions, Runner Ups, and Top 10. But there can be only one! Winner, that is,…

Fun Philosophy

What Do You Call Believer in Scientism? Contest

Toby Young at the Spectator ran this tweet yesterday: https://twitter.com/toadmeister/status/402545969956261888 The text (if you can't see) reads: "Is there a name for people who think reason and research evidence alone…

McChuck on Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By ScienceDecember 25, 2025
Merry Christmas! "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."
Cary D Cotterman on Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By ScienceDecember 24, 2025
A quarter-inch-drive ratchet with a set of sockets doesn't answer any moral and ethical questions, but it's damned useful. Merry…
Uncle Mike on Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By ScienceDecember 24, 2025
Christmas is another question Science has no explanation for. Joy and peace to you and yours.
Faith on Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By ScienceDecember 24, 2025
Briggs, you're the best! Merry Christmas!
Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By Science – William M. Briggs on Complete List Of All Moral & Ethical Questions Answered By ScienceDecember 24, 2025
[…] older version of this post originally ran 12 November 2016. All scientific successes in morals and ethics since then…