Briggs

Animals Aren’t Men, Even If Government Says So

I once saw, with mine own eyes, a squirrel steal an acorn from a second squirrel. This shouldn't be surprising; squirrels are career criminals and everybody knows it. Think of…

Philosophy Statistics

The Bayesian Metaphor Can Do More Harm Than Good: Update

Quoting from a post on vampires, "In Bayesian inference, you start with some initial beliefs (called 'Bayesian priors' or just 'priors'), and then you 'update' them as you receive new…

Podcast

Multiverses, Infinities, Probability & The Deadly Sin of Reification — WMBriggs Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZffCuj9ZHA Download MP3 June is Probability Month here at WMBriggs.com, mostly because I'll be teaching (I'll be in Ithaca the 12th to 24th) and want to keep from being distracted…

Philosophy

Stream: Pretend to Believe In Free Will Or Else You Will Make Bad Choices

Today's post is at The Stream: Pretend to Believe In Free Will Or Else You Will Make Bad Choices. I want to be nice about this, but believing that we…

Culture

Church of Scotland Goes For Gmarriage (Government-Defined Marriage)

https://twitter.com/churchscotland/status/733980861905928194 Notice that they couldn't resist that horrid, unnecessary bar graph. The Kirk caved. Dateline Glasgow: "Church of Scotland votes to allow ministers to be in same-sex marriages". The Church…

Philosophy SAMT

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

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. Format change…

Culture

On The Foreseeable Rise Of ‘White Supremacists’

Two stories with one central theme today, the second one being of more import. Headline one: "Debates Over Buildings Honoring White Supremacists Grow". Research shows that many past personages were…

Culture Philosophy Statistics

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…

Tars Tarkas on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
"The Drake and Fermi are not flawed logically: one can put probabilities to any question." The Drake equation always struck…
NLR on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
There may or may not be extraterrestrial life, but if we ever see some, I suspect there will be surprises.…
Douglas Skinner on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
The other bookend paired with the Drake/Fermi speculations is Evolution. In this January's edition of First Things Magazine comes a…
C-Marie on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
God loves you. Let Him take you home when it is time. In the mean time, give to our Father…
C. P. Benischek on Merry Christmas!December 29, 2025
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentle Briggs! Don’t dismay, Christmas isn’t yet over, but rather just warming up. A Child is…