Briggs

Certain Oral Activities Linked To Intercourse Onset, New Research Suggests

I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to "New Research Suggests", for these three words begin most press releases announcing dubious "scientific" results. Whoever first thought of…

Culture

A Depressing Day, With Some Hope

The election is over and, in large measure, the populace once more voted to continue voting itself funds taken from "other" people. Oh, sure, in some areas like Florida, the…

Statistics

Alcohol More Harmful Than Heroin Or Cocaine?

Belly up to the bar, boys. Have a snort! Reach into that pile of needles and raise them high. I'd like to propose a toast to Professors David Nutt [sic],…

Culture Statistics

How Much Math Do We Really Need?

That title was lifted from a Washington Post essay by G.V. Ramanathan, a professor emeritus of mathematics, statistics and computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. For my…

Philosophy

High Priests Of (Climate) Science

"And thy response shall be: 'Nothing hear our prayer'," said the high priest of the Church of Science. "Nothing hear our prayer," intoned the congregation. "For we shall be a…

Statistics

Being Against Climate Change Legislation Is Just Like Being For Slavery

Or so implies Andrew J. Hoffman, current sitter in the cushy Holcim chair at the University of Michigan, and writer of the peer-reviewed (I'm guessing) article "Climate change as a…

Statistics

Influential Forecasts

If I tell you that the price of a stock is going to increase and you believe me enough to rush out and buy that stock, the price of that…

Philosophy Statistics

Are We In The Midst Of A Global Extinction Event?

"All Life Ends! Amphibians, Cartilaginous Fishes Hardest Hit." That was the headline yesterday in newspapers all over the country as editors reacted to a press release from Science magazine which…

John Pate on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
…another way of putting it, more succinctly: consciousness does not have the halting problem.
John Pate on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
The most straightforward indicator that computers don't have minds is that computers don't exist in the eternal now. They have…
gareth on Class 73: How To Tell If You Have Bad DiceDecember 8, 2025
Well, having made it all the way through, my takeaways were: 1. The answer to the question, "what is the…
NLR on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
It can't be simulations all the way down because a simulation needs an underlying reality to simulate. But also, in…
McChuck on The Biggest Mistake In Science Applied To Universe As SimulationDecember 8, 2025
There is only one reality. Our perceptions of it may differ. Reality is real. The map is not the territory.…