Statistics – Page 302 – William M. Briggs

Finitism, Physics, Cellular Automata: The Universe as Logic

In no way is this article meant to be complete. It is more in the way of musings---a crude introduction---so that we can see where to go. Is the universe…

Philosophy Statistics

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…

Brian (bulaoren) on Is the West Dying Out? The Demographic Crisis Explained: Jon Harris PodcastSeptember 9, 2026
Nature abhors a vacuum
The True Nolan on Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Kids Because Of “Climate Change”September 9, 2026
In the distant past when dinosaurs roamed the earth and volcanoes belched hourly, we kids (being on summer vacation from…
Brian ( bulaoren) on Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Kids Because Of “Climate Change”September 8, 2026
Ps. When I saw "River's Edge", it reminded me of a, weirdly, morally ambiguous 1950s Hitchcock film (with Jerry "Beaver"…
Cary Cotterman on Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Kids Because Of “Climate Change”September 8, 2026
As a child in the 1960s, I tended to get injured more often in warm months than in cold months,…
Brian (bulaoren) on Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Kids Because Of “Climate Change”September 8, 2026
Today's subject seems a bit too warm to touch. Well, somebody has to break the ice (9?). I keep remembering…