Briggs

Good Ways Of Speaking About Truth

"Quid est veritas?" Pilate asked. Famously, his interlocutor did not answer, perhaps because Pilate didn't give Him the chance. Then Pilate may have been (understandably) addled because the Answer was…

Philosophy Statistics

Bad Ways Of Speaking About Truth

Easy It is true that all men are mortal. It is also true that 2 + 3 = 5. Yet it is not "true" that all men are mortal, nor…

Fun

Dinner With Atheists: A Mini-Play In One Act

SCENE: The monthly meeting of the Madison Atheists Evangelization Society at the I-12 Marriot Courtyard's Badger Room, a rambunctious group sitting at a table, long side to the audience, like…

Statistics

Regression To The Mean (And Performance Curses) Simply Explained

I've just read about The Second Term Curse which supposedly besets (of course) second-term presidents. There is also the infamous Sports Illustrated Curse, which is said to befall athletes soon…

Statistics

Sam Harris Asks, “Can Science Answer Moral Questions?” No, Sam, It Cannot

I was having a back-and-forth on Twitter with Craig Mazin â€(@clmazin) about Sam Harris's claim that morality is a scientific and not a metaphysical question. As evidence, Mazin pointed me…

Culture Philosophy

The Unbelievers: The Movie. Richard Dawkins & Lawrence Krauss On Tour

A camera followed two village atheists on their wanderings, spliced together some of their less tedious talks, sprinkled in a few celebrity cameos, such as one by noted scientist Woody…

Culture Statistics

The Horrors And Hurt Feelings Of Profiling

"Ver are your papers!" "Um. Hang on. I'm sure I have them on me. Wait. Here," said the man, handing them over. The clerk examined them closely. He arched his…

Culture Fun

Knife-Wielding Teens Invade High School

What you are about to read is a true story. The question is why none of this has been picked up in the media. In late March a "flash mob"…

CorkyAgain on The Equality ParadoxJuly 10, 2026
Somehow I'd missed that story about Schumer's grilling gaffe. Aside from not lighting the fire or putting cheese on a…
John Pate on The Equality ParadoxJuly 9, 2026
Maybe it wasn't considered safe for Schumer to be near an open flame, having no familiarity with the ordinary tasks…
Fubsy on My Horrible Interaction With AIJuly 9, 2026
Lol, I remember "Iron Eyes Cody," the spaghetti Indian!
Rudolph Harrier on My Horrible Interaction With AIJuly 9, 2026
I've also experienced that thing where it claims to not be able to do something it just did. I see…
Rudolph Harrier on My Horrible Interaction With AIJuly 9, 2026
A couple of things I have noticed about how LLMs have developed in the last year or so: 1.) Somehow…