Statistics – Page 288 – William M. Briggs

Postmodernism and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

Since I am, by nature, a compassionate individual, I had been thinking of how we might Sokal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). It is for their…

Statistics

Feigned Surprises of the Week: Journolist and Our New Tax

Said the main-stream journalist on Journolist, "If they of the right wing don't behave and treat our Golden Boy properly, we'll call them racists. It matters not whom we pick…

Fun Statistics

A Bust—I mean must—Read; Or, An Evolution in Bra Sizes

"Excuse me, miss. Would you care to participate in science?" Sometimes being a statistician is enviable. In a flash of scientific brilliance, Australian statisticians have just completed a massive study…

Fun Statistics

M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, and John Wayne

Part II of the Two-Envelope problem was not too friendly, so here's something that is. Via HotAir, I came across the site Marginal Revolution, in which was featured a graph…

Philosophy Statistics

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part II

Read Part I first. We are in the peek first game here. The distribution of N When X is odd, and all X are discrete, we know we should always…

Philosophy Statistics

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part I

Another probability "paradox", the two-envelope problem1, goes like this: Before you are two envelopes, A and B. One of them contains $X and the other $2X (which is equivalent to…

Statistics

St Petersburg Paradox; Games and Statistical Decisions; RIP David Blackwell

David Blackwell, who died two weeks ago, was one of the first mainstream statisticians to "go Bayesian." And for that and his unique skill in clearly explaining difficult ideas, we…

Statistics

How to Fool Yourself—And Others—With Statistics

See the news box to the left. I wrote this long ago and never used it. I do not love it. But since I am so busy, I haven't the…

McChuck on Happy New Year!January 1, 2026
Happy New Year! May your health and finances be stable or improving.
Johnno on Why The Drake Equation FailsJanuary 1, 2026
The Drake Equation, like Da Theory of da Evolution, and Relativity Math-a-Magics with Time-pretzel-balloons, all exist to keep Atheism afloat…
Johnno on How Did We Do In Our 2025 Predictions?December 31, 2025
I was right about the right! Conservative estimating does work! Always aim for mediocrity! The formula for success! Or at…
John Pate on Why The Drake Equation FailsDecember 31, 2025
Seems to me the obvious reason for the state of the world as we see it is that aliens are…
Zundfolge on How Did We Do In Our 2025 Predictions?December 31, 2025
Wow, I have never been as far off as I was this last year. I'll have to give some thought…