Statistics – Page 275 – William M. Briggs

And The Winner Goes To…Oscar Statistics Wrap Up

Our model was right: The King's Speech won. In this weekend's Oscar Statistics post, we modeled the chances of each nominated movie. We guessed that the movie most likely to…

Fun Statistics

Oscar Statistics: Money, Men, and Maturity; Plus Our Predictions

This article was written with the assistance of the very employable John Briggs, who did all the grunt work. Also see And The Winner Goes To...Oscar Statistics Wrap Up. Which…

Statistics

Prettier Politicians Preferred At Polls

"It is well established that being beautiful confers many advantages on a person." This is the opening sentence of a break-through paper by two Swedes and a Finn. From that…

Statistics

Planet Could Be ‘Unrecognizable’ By 2050: Doom Just Around The Corner

If you are in your 40s now, as yours truly is (am?), then by 2050 you and the rest of our cohort will be dead or in our 80s. If…

Culture Statistics

Boy Wrestler Refuses To Compete With Girl

We're all adults here, so I'm going to come right out and reveal my misogynistic thesis: men are better athletes than women, in the sense that if you pick any…

Philosophy Statistics

Why Memes Are Stupid: The Short Version

In 1976, in his The Selfish Gene, a book which revealed that most of us are slaves to our genes, biologist Richard Dawkins "discovered" the meme which, in one definition,…

Culture Statistics

Scientific American Proposes Socialism As Means To Eliminate Murder

The once great magazine Scientific American has actually had three lives. Around the turn of the last century and for many years after, there was a magazine called Scientific American,…

Culture Fun Statistics

Hats Are Back! Staring At Women’s Breasts Lowers Math Scores!

Fedoras For Fellas While watching an exquisite interpretation of the classic hose-in-the-face by one Curley "Babe" Howard on television, I inadvertently saw a commercial for the movie The Adjustment Bureau…

Tars Tarkas on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
"The Drake and Fermi are not flawed logically: one can put probabilities to any question." The Drake equation always struck…
NLR on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
There may or may not be extraterrestrial life, but if we ever see some, I suspect there will be surprises.…
Douglas Skinner on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 30, 2025
The other bookend paired with the Drake/Fermi speculations is Evolution. In this January's edition of First Things Magazine comes a…
C-Marie on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
God loves you. Let Him take you home when it is time. In the mean time, give to our Father…
C. P. Benischek on Merry Christmas!December 29, 2025
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentle Briggs! Don’t dismay, Christmas isn’t yet over, but rather just warming up. A Child is…