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,…

John Pate on Wolfgang Smith For EveryoneJuly 31, 2026
Briggs get a grip. Read this, http://dvc.org.uk/wp/?p=320 and then get back to us about Quantum Entanglement.
Diversity News (July 30, 2026) on Never Use Or Trust P-values (Pagan-Values)July 30, 2026
[…] to be causation, resulting in “wet streets make rain” science. Consider listening to statistics experts who point out how…
spetzer86 on Death By Organ DonationJuly 28, 2026
Right out of the old Monty Python skit where the guy was a "liver donor" and the guys came to…
The Four Chords of Modern Music - Roadie Music Blog on Four Chords Is All You Need: The Limited Nature of Pop MusicJuly 28, 2026
[…] Four Chords Is All You Need: The Limited Nature of Pop Music […]
Mary Sova on Wolfgang Smith For EveryoneJuly 28, 2026
I caught a small portion your interview with Ken Craycraft on my car radio yesterday, but didn't realize it was…