Philosophy – Page 105 – William M. Briggs

“Freedom Includes Total Diversity”

Here's the setup. That wise man Barack Obama nominated James "Wally" Brewster Jr. as Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Brewster is a well known "bundler" to the administration, adept at…

Culture Philosophy

Government Became Unstoppable Yesterday

Regardless whether you cheered or wept at yesterday's DOMA ruling, you will have done nothing but affirmed your own uninformed prejudices if you do not read the opinions of the…

Philosophy Statistics

Direct And Inverse Probability: The Bayesian Way

Class is almost over! Just three days (including today) left. I'm way behind reading comments. All logic, of which probability is an example, begins with a fixed list of premises…

Philosophy Statistics

Bayes Always Works: An Answer To Senn; Part V

Read Part IV. We're almost done. Only one more after this. There are examples without number of the proper use of Bayes's Theorem: the probability you have cancer given a…

Philosophy Statistics

All Probability Is Conditional: An Answer To Senn; Part IV

Read Part III. Still with me? Hope so, because we're only on the second page of Senn's article (but don't fret; we'll be skipping most of it). Review: in logical-probability…

Philosophy Statistics

Probability Isn’t “Fair”: An Answer To Senn; Part III

A quick reminder that we're trying to unpack the meaning of the "is fair" in the proposition "This die is fair," and trying to deduce the probability this proposition is…

Philosophy Statistics

There Is Only One Kind Of Probability: An Answer To Senn; Part II

Read Part I. Some of this material is explained in detail in this series. Just after the introduction, Senn starts his argument by claiming an "important distinction between two types…

Philosophy Statistics

Bayes Is More Than Probably Right: An Answer To Senn; Part I

Stephen Senn very kindly answered a post I wrote on p-values (Unsignificant Statistics: Or Die P-Value, Die Die Die) by sending me his "You May Believe You Are a Bayesian…

Uncle Mike on Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?March 20, 2026
Hall of Fame essay. Post this again and often, whenever you have an opening.
John M on Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?March 20, 2026
Peer review: Larry and Curlie agreeing Moe has a good idea.
Rudolph Harrier on Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?March 19, 2026
It's always "I'm right, because all the experts say I'm right. You wouldn't want to disagree with the experts, would…
John M on The Great Effeminization of the AcademyMarch 18, 2026
Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman…
Cary D Cotterman on The Great Effeminization of the AcademyMarch 18, 2026
I can't read the titles or the excerpts without laughing out loud. They are comedy gold.