#IAmOutraged!
I am outraged! It's true. I am so outraged that I have created my own hashtag: #IAmOutraged. Use it to join me in my outrage. Let us unite in our…
Posted inStatistics
Regression Isn’t What You Think
We've done regression a hundred times, but it isn't sticking. That means my explanations are failing. Let me try again. Everybody knows normal distributions, i.e. bell-shaped curves: in shorthand N(m,s),…
Posted inCulture Philosophy
The Moral Case Against Designer Babies
"Should prospective parents seek information about gene variants that increase the risk their children will develop diseases as adults? Should physicians provide that information?" So asks Ronald Bailey, only just…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
What That Spurious Correlation Website Tells Us About Statistics
Many (thanks!) readers sent links to Tyler Vigen's Spurious Correlations, whose motto is "Discover a new correlation - an interesting spurious correlation each day!" My favorite is tying the yearly…
Posted inCulture
Climate Wars At The University of Delaware: Guest Post by Jan H. Blits
Jan H. Blits is a professor in the University Honors Program at the University of Delaware, is the winner of the 2011 Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award. May a…
Posted inPhilosophy SAMT
Summary Against Modern Thought: What We Can Know And What We Cannot
See the first post in this series for an explanation and guide. Chapter Two (1) Now of all human pursuits, that of wisdom is the most perfect, the most sublime,…
Posted inCulture Philosophy
The Consensus Fallacy
Here is the word-for-word opening in the Vox "explanatory journalism" tidbit "John Oliver shows how to debate climate deniers": That climate change is occurring, and that humans are the primary…
Posted inCulture Fun Philosophy
Ask A Scientific Ethicist: Boy Who Thinks He’s A Boy & More
This week, three letters from concerned readers. Bobby's Bad Behavior Dear Scientific Ethicist, Our eight-year old child has been acting out, speaking out of turn, making shapes of weapons with…