Briggs

Statement Of Teaching Philosophy

Regular readers will know that I have been searching for (continuous) employment as a teacher. Most colleges and universities ask applicants to supply "a statement of teaching philosophy", while a…

Philosophy Statistics

The Jeffreys-Lindley Paradox Isn’t

Background A paradox is a mistake in thinking; an artificial, human creation which usually arises because a conclusion which follows from a set of beloved premises is itself unloved. Twitter…

Culture Fun Statistics

Oscar Predictions: Money, Men, & Maturity Make The Difference

Last year, my number two son1 and I created a model to predict the Oscar winning movie (the original post, and the follow up). We found the following characteristics most…

Fun Statistics

Scratch-off Lottery Tickets: Expected Payouts, A Hidden Benefit?

Update See the comments, but thanks to readers' arguments I believe I was wrong in an essential calculation. I've reworked the text to correct my error, which was small in…

Philosophy Statistics

What Is Cause? — Guest Post by DAV

Regular readers will recognize DAV as a regular contributer whose humorous voice of reason has kept many conversations on target. Today he presents ideas to spur a discussion of causality,…

Statistics

Last Night’s Republican Debate

Off in service today, so only a brief word. Debate results: Romney had an easy base hit to center field, Gingrich doubled but with no men on base, Santorum hit…

Philosophy

Santorum And The ‘S’ Word

President Obama has told us, and we can scarcely disbelieve him, that he is a Christian. At a recent prayer breakfast, Mr Obama said: [The prayer breakfast is] a chance…

Culture Philosophy

Why There’s No Point To Arguing About Abortion

I lifted that title, word for word, from (atheist, self-admitted man-of-the-left, City College emeritus Professor of Sociology) Steven Goldberg's article of the same name from his must-read Fads and Fallacies…

Paul Fischer on Class 77: Trendy Trends In Time SeriesJanuary 30, 2026
Great lecture, William. Took a year of time series in grad school...all math, zero discussion of how fragile “trends” really…
Martin on Fatima, Russia & You, Part IV — Guest Post by Ianto WattJanuary 30, 2026
Brilliant. Thank you.
spetzer86 on Class 77: Trendy Trends In Time SeriesJanuary 29, 2026
You also need to consider the amount of trust in the data over time. If you have any reason to…
spetzer86 on Who Still Listens To AM Radio?January 29, 2026
Over 60, used to listen to AM all the time as a kid. Mostly WHO and other Des Moines stations.…
Steve on Who Still Listens To AM Radio?January 29, 2026
Yep. Flyover, so during the daytime, there was only local dreck, but nighttime, KFYR (Bismark), KOMA (Oklahoma City), WLW (Cinncinnati,…