Statistics – Page 208 – William M. Briggs

A New Possible Solution Of Fermi’s Paradox

What is the probability the following proposition is true? ``There are rational beings other than humans in the universe." Well, given the evidence of angels, who are rational non-human beings,…

Philosophy Statistics

Correlation Implies Causation

A version of this post originally appeared on 20 October 2012. But after a Twitter conversation with our friend @Neuro_Skeptic, it's time for an addition. Comes a Salon article entitled…

Culture Statistics

Sexual Immorality, Low Birth Rates, And Religion

Pew Research released a survey on the Global Views on Morality, asking adults in each of several countries whether the following activities were morally unacceptable: Extramarital Affairs, Homosexuality, Abortion, Premarital…

Philosophy Statistics

Preface: The Philosophy of Probability and Statistics, An Introduction

%This is the Preface of The Philosophy of Probability and Statistics, An Introduction coming before Preface and before the chapters on Truth and Logic. Note the New & Improved title!…

Philosophy Statistics

Is God’s Existence Confirmed By Prophecy Via Probability?

I came across a curious book by Marvin Bittinger, a mathematics educator, called The Faith Equation: One Mathematician's Journey in Christianity. I'm a sucker for books like this, which seek…

Statistics

On UFOs, Salt Intake, And Heart Disease

Michael "State of Fear" Crichton once proposed that UFOs were responsible for global warming. Why not? After all, something caused that record amount of snow in Detroit yesterday. Don't get…

Culture Statistics

Government Per Capita Spending: Up, Up, And Away! Or, Happy Tax Day!

Here it is, folks. Right from WhiteHouse.gov. The amount of Federal Government spending per capita from 1901 to the present and projected out to 2019. Population projections were taken from…

Philosophy Statistics

The Hot Hand: Statistical Fluke Or Genuine Article?

I'll save you hunting through the text. It's a real thing. If you want to know why, read on. If not, you just tell 'em W.M. Briggs sez so, which…

Marbles! – William M. Briggs on Marbles!June 24, 2026
[…] I am on the road and am way behind on posts—I have a 3,500 word article on deriving Oughts…
Brian (bulaoren) on Marbles!June 24, 2026
For the past 48 hours, I've been considering a fundamental, structural, problem with marbles; " Marmorism". Some people will accumulate…
John Pate on Marbles!June 23, 2026
Marbles was a thing in my primary school in Cambridge, England in the sixties. I don't recall girls ever playing…
Jess on Marbles!June 23, 2026
Somewhere, I have my brother's bag of marbles. I sometimes think I should go through them to see if there…
Cary D Cotterman on Marbles!June 23, 2026
In the summer of 1960, in Fresno, California, I lost my promotional "KYNO Top-Dog Radio" boulder in a game of…