Philosophy – Page 15 – William M. Briggs

Why (Scott Alexander’s) Bayesian Rationality Fails

Scott Alexander, late of Slate Star Codex, and New York Times doxee, is the subject of Curtis Yarvin nee Moldbug's latest. Rather, Alexander's (and Moldbug's? see postscript) Bayesian rationality is.…

Philosophy Statistics

Classical Statistics Has Outlived Its Usefulness: Here’s The Fix

A PDF of this article may be downloaded here. This article is a precis of Uncertainty. Opening Act Patient walks into the doctor and says, "Doc, I saw that new…

Philosophy

Brian Cox Proves Why Scientists Should Never Be Asked Questions About The Soul

Celebrity physicist Brian Cox said he thinks science has shown men do not have souls. According to the Express, he said on the Joe Rogan show that there is "no…

Philosophy

Insights on Philosophy of Beauty — Guest Post by The Cranky Professor

On the eve of the greatest beauty, an essay on what beauty means. What is beauty? It may be a little complicated to define how an object, thing or person…

Philosophy

Science Is Now Politics, Says Nature: Here’s Why They’re Right

Nature magazine definitely announced, daring to be doubted, "Science and politics are inseparable". They followed this up with, "We cannot stand by and let science be undermined", and so endorsed…

Philosophy Statistics

A Twist In A Solution To Newcomb’s Paradox

Let's take a break from the insanity and wade into cool waters to start the weekend. I'll take it that you've watched this video, which purports to give a solution…

Philosophy

Academics Throw Fit After Being Told They Don’t Throw Fits Over IQ & Race

There are many positions on IQ, the so-called intelligence quotient, but most fall into two camps. Those who reject IQ measures outright, because racism, and those who claim people have…

Philosophy

Love Is Hate: Pro-Transgender Speech Is Hate Speech

There are only two possibilities: either God exists, or we each are gods. In either case, pro-transgender, pro-sodomy, pro-perversion speech of any kind is hate speech and must be condemned,…

hudbwu on AI & Chess Both Produce Pre-Coded OutputJuly 1, 2025
The wrinkle is in the (pseudo-)random number generator. In principle, the random number generator can be hijacked by a higher…
hudbwu on On The Probability Of GodJuly 1, 2025
I don't think omnibenevolence is part of the definition of God. Not only because, as you stated, there is nothing…
hudbwu on England’s Mandatory Suicide & WomenJuly 1, 2025
> It is a characteristic of the breed—on average: we speak in generalities here—that in any argument women do not…
Briggs on How Can You Tell If You Have ESP?June 30, 2025
Spetzer, All good points. I go into many of them later in the chapter.
spetzer86 on How Can You Tell If You Have ESP?June 30, 2025
If the receiver and sender independently wrote down the guess / card with no verbal communication, it might be better.…