Statistics – Page 178 – William M. Briggs

On Coincidence And Fortune: Why So Many One-Eyed Generals?

Plutarch opens his Life of Sertorius with these two sentences: It is perhaps not a matter of surprise, if in the lapse of time, which is unlimited, while fortune is…

Culture Statistics

Stream: Dice Games Prove Evolution Because Humans Believed In Punitive Gods?

Today's post is at the Stream: Dice Games Prove Evolution Because Humans Believed In Punitive Gods? Answer this question: could you, by counting the number of coins some guy puts…

Culture Statistics

What Happens If You Take Away Women’s Birth Control?

The titular question is in earnest, dear reader, just as it was for Amanda J. Stevenson and four others. Yes, those fine academics were just as perplexed as you probably…

Statistics

Science Confirms Astrology! Plus, Machine Learning, Big Data, And Causes

Health signs The alternate title to today's post, suggested by reader Kip Hansen, is "Data scientists find connections between birth month and health". Don't scoff. We're talking peer review and…

Philosophy Statistics

Gravitational Waves And Discovering Cause

You'll have heard by now that the existence of gravitational waves have been "confirmed." The scare quotes are intentional, but not in the sense that I (necessarily) disbelieve in the…

Statistics

Regression Can’t Prove Discrimination

Anybody out there a lawyer, or do you know one, who is involved on the side of angels in these so-called discrimination lawsuits? Have them contact me. The argument that…

Philosophy Statistics

Infinity, (Physical) Parameters, Fine Tuning, & Probability

Via Ed Feser I was led back to Alvin Plantinga's Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism, which has a lot about probability. I'll not do much of…

Statistics

Iowa Caucus Open Discussion. Update: Text Fixed, Those Coin Tosses Discussed

https://twitter.com/mattstat/status/694224471712878592 That tweet was my prediction early yesterday, which I made partly relying on polls but more on the size of the crowds those two men garnered. About those polls,…

Cloudbuster on Guilty People Aren’t Guilty, Innocent People AreAugust 26, 2026
"It is like punishing a snail for leaving a trail of slime." If this is true, it is a powerful…
gareth on A New Kind Of University: Your Comments WantedAugust 26, 2026
I'm not an academic. What you are suggesting seems a good idea. A formalised system akin to a personal letter…
Steve on A New Kind Of University: Your Comments WantedAugust 26, 2026
The calendar on my fridge this month says, "Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never…
Daniel Lemire on A New Kind Of University: Your Comments WantedAugust 25, 2026
It makes sense.
Emmanuel Salva on A New Kind Of University: Your Comments WantedAugust 25, 2026
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