May 2011 – William M. Briggs

The Showman’s Courtship: Guest Post By Artemus Ward

Artemus Ward, who wrote this piece circa 1858, was a showman and writer who toured these great United States with his artistic exhibition, which consisted of "three moral Bares, a…

Statistics

Italian Scientists On Trial For Manslaughter After Failing To Predict Earthquake

Seven Italian geologists have been hauled before an Italian judge---whether in chains or no, we are not informed---and charged with the heinous crime of manslaughter. Specifically, these men are being…

Philosophy Statistics

Proving What You Want To Believe

You can always find a way to believe anything. That "always" is strict---the magic of belief, like a card trick with a gaffed deck, can always be worked. But just…

Statistics

The Myth Of Killer Mercury: Guest Post By Willie Soon & Paul Driessen

Willie Soon has graciously allowed us to reprint his and Paul Driessen's editorial that ran in the 25 May 2011 Wall Street Journal. Dr Soon received double our normal rate…

Culture Statistics

India Aborting Girls At Full Speed: Sex Selection And Demographics

Science is great. It---"it" is always an it, an invisible entity, a guiding sapience, an intelligence that can be looked to for guidance---can now us tell the sex of a…

Culture Fun

Parents Raising Child As ‘It’

When I first saw that the website with the story of parents raising "gender free" kids ended in ".ca", I thought for sure it came from California. But---Holy Saskatchewan---it's Canada!…

Philosophy Statistics

The Trolley Problem And Experimental Philosophy

The Trolley Problem, as given by Eric Schwitzgebel (as part of a larger survey): You are standing by the railroad tracks when you notice an empty boxcar rolling out of…

Culture Statistics

Wishcasting The End Of The World: Update

Wishcasting is when a forecast or prediction is shaded in the direction the forecaster or predictor wants the event to happen. For example, if you forecast this weekend's weather, you…

Uncle Mike on Why Study Probability?November 14, 2025
The answer is a question: what did you expect the counts to be? On what premises did you base your…
JH on Why Study Probability?November 14, 2025
Then some decision rule that says “This much departure from uniformity means loading.” Which rule may be different for you…
Williis Eschenbach on Why Study Probability?November 13, 2025
Thanks, Matt, but you haven't answered my question, either then or now. The last time I asked, I got this…
Uncle Mike on Why Study Probability?November 13, 2025
Or, Willis, you could take the course, study the classes, do the homework. Then, quite possibly, or even probably, you…
Briggs on Why Study Probability?November 13, 2025
Willis, I have answered the question each and every time. Go back and look at when you asked, and you'll…