Posted inCulture Statistics
Some Statistics On What The Sexual Rebellion Wraught
I'm always complaining of statistics gone awry, but a constant diet of bad news can lead to bad things, like a desire to listen to NPR or to use PowerPoint.…
Posted inBook review Statistics
Mathematical Association of America Reviews Uncertainty: The Soul of Modeling, Probability & Statistics
William J. Satzer at the Mathematical Association of America reviewed Uncertainty: The Soul of Modeling, Probability & Statistics. Here it is (ellipsis below original). This is a book about probability…
Posted inStatistics
Stream: Who’s Better At Playing Doctor, Boys Or Girls?
Stream: Who's Better At Playing Doctor, Boys Or Girls? The NBC News story "Female Doctors Outperform Male Doctors, According to Study" makes these bold claims. Patients treated by women are…
Posted inStatistics
Pascal’s Mugging Is Silly: Events Don’t “Have” Probabilities
Before we begin, see this similar article about a different mugging scenario, which demonstrated that all probability is conditional and that decision isn't probability. Here's the serious version of Pascal's…
Posted inFun Statistics
Statistician to the Stars For Hire!
Herein our semi-annual reminder that the purpose of this blog is mercenary. Filthy lucre is both impetus and goal of its daily readings. Moola, the spondulicks, the government's glory, the…
Posted inStatistics
Muggings, Nuclear Devices, Probability & Decision
Somehow I ended up on the curious site LessWrong.com, directed by somebody with the nickname Yud (from Eliezer Yudkowsky). Odd isn't in it. Investigating it led me to Reddit and…
Posted inStatistics
Don’t Use Statistical Models (When You Don’t Have To. Which Is Nearly Always)
Today, a convincing argument proving the current practice of probability and statistics is mostly wrong, or wrong-headed. The picture above does---and does not---show herbicide use in several countries by year…
Posted inCulture Statistics
Science Asks: Why Are Angry Atheists Annoying?
What's more annoying than an atheist who harangues passersby about "rationality"? Easy answer: a scientist who announces a discovery about human behavior that was known by everybody since Adam. Our…