Briggs

Why Is Economics Plagued By Math?

The answer is easy: because math is numbers and numbers are measurement and measurements are necessary to make a subject "scientific" in the modern sense of that word. Why should…

Culture

Stream: Doctors Killing Patients And Harvesting Their Organs

Today's post is at The Stream: When Doctors Kill Patients to Harvest Their Organs. "How's your headache, Mr Jones?" "Gettin' worse, doc. Had it off and on all week." "That's…

Culture

This Week In Doom — WMBriggs Podcast 18 May 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-4itd-EsC8 Joseph Umstatt A look back at the past week in the worst that was in aural form, featuring the music of Joseph Umstatt, Antonio Vivaldi, Nicola Fiorenza, and Luigi…

Book review Statistics

Book Update — Uncertainty & Breaking The Law Of Averages

I'll have the page proofs for Uncertainty mid week and I've until 10 June to turn them back in. (I begin teaching on the 13th.) This puts publication in early…

Philosophy Statistics

Quantum Mechanics, Potentiality, Ontology, Epistemology, & Probability

What is and what is known about what is are two concepts which are often entangled, especially in quantum mechanics (puns intentional). This is one of the subjects which I…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: Failed Arguments For The Eternity Of The World I

See the first post in this series for an explanation and guide of our tour of Summa Contra Gentiles. All posts are under the category SAMT. Previous post. I'm departing…

Fun

Think You Can Simulate A Brain? Think Again

Since is Silly Saturday, a few fun back-of-the-envelope calculations on simulating a brain. I'm drawing from the marvelous, must-read (go do it now) essay "The empty brain: Your brain does…

Statistics

Brits Psychologists Cry “BS!” Over Research Practices. Or, Die P-Value, Die Die Die

In The British Psychological Society's official organ The Psychologist, two gents Tom Farsides and Paul Sparks, call BS on standard research practices. There is a worrying amount of outright fraud…

Cary Cotterman on Changing Clocks In Fall Will Stroke You Out, Fatty: ResearchOctober 6, 2025
I don't really care about the twice-annual time changes. They don't bother me. However, if any change were to be…
cdquarles on Changing Clocks In Fall Will Stroke You Out, Fatty: ResearchOctober 6, 2025
I like daylight time. Where I am in relation to my time zone's prime meridian, at the peak of summer…
Brian (bulaoren) on Changing Clocks In Fall Will Stroke You Out, Fatty: ResearchOctober 6, 2025
Do P values constitute effeminate logic? If so, perhaps they should be called "sit down to P values" (which don't…
Rudolph Harrier on Changing Clocks In Fall Will Stroke You Out, Fatty: ResearchOctober 6, 2025
This is a serious question: is there any justification for using p-values when you are modelling everything to begin with?…
Uncle Mike on Changing Clocks In Fall Will Stroke You Out, Fatty: ResearchOctober 6, 2025
Quit effing with the clocks. There is no reason to do it. Yes, it strokes people out. Yes, it's a…