Briggs

Consensus Members Agree To Agree: Breaking Story

The agreement amongst climatologists who agree that mankind will cause devastating climate change is popularly known as "The Consensus." Those who agree with the consensus are part of the consensus;…

Fun Statistics

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest: Kobayahsi Arrested! Records and Statistics

Sonna no uso da! Fuzakeruna yo! Were those the words of ex-champ Takeru Kobayahsi as he brazenly stormed the stage at the ninety-fifth annual Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest yesterday?…

Fun Statistics

World Cup Statistics and Predictions for the Final

A prediction (made on Monday, 28 June) verified: Although---and this has nothing to do with the issue at hand---Argentina's goaltender Sergio Romero stinks, and that's putting it nicely. Every shot…

Statistics

FBI Homicide Statistics: What Are You Most Likely To Be Killed With?

It's the start of a long weekend and the time for a diversion. It's the fourth of July weekend and our lesson is: if you older than 50, beware strangers…

Statistics

Siena Presidential Scholar President Rankings: Are They Biased?

The Siena Research Institute asked 238 presidential scholars to rank each president from 1 (best) to worst (43) in nineteen different categories, plus one overall ranking. A complete list of…

Culture

In Defense of World Cup Enjoyment: A Response to Dalrymple

The much loved, and surely respected, Theodore Dalrymple does not like soccer. He says of soccer fans, "Try as I might to expunge the thought from my mind that this…

Philosophy Statistics

In Defense of Dogmatism

In so far as I have a coherent philosophy of statistics, I hope it is "robust" enough to cope in principle with the whole of statistics, and sufficiently undogmatic not…

Philosophy Statistics

Tricky Probability Problem: Chance of Two Sons, One Born on Tuesday?

Thanks to reader Matt Lewis who sent me this link. Martin Gardner, may he rest in peace, gave us a delicious probability problem: Suppose that Mrs Smith has two children,…

JH on Class 72: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Wrong WayNovember 20, 2025
Two basic points. (1) Predictions made beyond the range of observed data are unreliable. Just as political extrapolations, these predictions…
Heresolong on Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says ResearcherNovember 20, 2025
I feel like you zipped right past her solution to the problem, which is not to make black women think…
Cary D Cotterman on Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says ResearcherNovember 19, 2025
"Damn, those white people are smart! --Duke Ellington, upon first seeing the Golden Gate Bridge
shawn marshall on Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says ResearcherNovember 19, 2025
Are there 700 million black africans? Has whitey screwed all of them?
Uncle Mike on Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says ResearcherNovember 19, 2025
Not to mention their reproductivity. Or lack of both. One might hope that they change their focus from physics to…