Briggs

Cornell Teaching Sojourn: Probability, Stats, & R

Time for the annual migration to Ithaca via a well accoutered golden coach (complete with undergraduates feeding professors grapes grown at Cornell's orchards). There I will linger for two weeks,…

Philosophy Statistics

Tobacco Ads Could Lead To Cancer Cure

Today's headline is true. True means that which is certain, without the possibility of error; that which is not false; that which accords with reality. It means that which is…

Statistics

Unsignificant Statistics: Or Die P-Value, Die Die Die

Must...resist...quoting... from Stephen Ziliak's gorgeous invective "Unsignificant Statistics" (where I stole today's title) in the Financial Post. Well, just a little (all emphasis mine and joyfully placed): Statistical significance is…

Philosophy Statistics

Scientists Discover Way To Increase Publication Count

Anybody who has spent any time in a university library amidst the papers of his specialty knows that the absolute last thing which is needed is more of them. Journals…

Statistics

Krauthammer’s Wrong: NSA Spying Not Equivalent To Policing

Charles Krauthammer ought to be taken seriously. He said yesterday from his daily perch that he wasn't concerned about NSA spying on Americans because there hasn't been any or many…

Culture Statistics

You Do Too Have Something To Hide

"Let them look at my phone records. I have nothing to hide. They can read all my emails. There's nothing there worth reading." We hear this primarily from the young,…

Culture

Smartness Is False And Oppresive: Zeus–Update

Aristophanes was right. He said, "Open your mouth and shut your eyes and see what Zeus will send you." In other words, no need to be smart and think when…

Statistics

Data Mining, PRISM, NSA & False Positives: Update

Remember how---this is a really brief history lesson--remember how the NSA, CIA, FBI, and many other of those lettered agencies with their ever-increasing budgets, super-sophisticated computers, genius brain mathematicians, statisticians,…

Milton Hathaway on Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering OutJune 4, 2025
I seem to be missing something here. The "Average CD" chart shows a marked decline, while the "Total Papers" chart…
Uncle Mike on Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering OutJune 4, 2025
The problem, in a nutshell, is the trending longitudinal bibliometrics of stochastic heuristics. Vouchsafe the imperative and quotidian drivel perpetuates.
Milton Hathaway on Expert Nathan Confas: Experts Know BestJune 4, 2025
There is a well-known phenomenon in my occupation (engineering), and, I assume, in many other occupations. By nature, engineers love…
brad.tittle on Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering OutJune 4, 2025
I take umbrage with that attack on being nice... Then I look in the mirror and realize that I haven't…
Leonard on Even The Woke Say Science Is Petering OutJune 4, 2025
I wonder what percentage of “papers” are AI-generated in the last 5 years. For that matter, I wonder how many…