June 2014 – William M. Briggs

Do You Believe In Global Warming Because Of The Seriousness Of The Charges?

An activist tells you, "Based on my theory of rampant, out-of-control global warming, otters, driven mad by the heat, will take to the streets and destroy mankind, just like apes…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: Potency, Actuality, & Movement

See the first post in this series for an explanation and guide of our tour of Summa Contra Gentiles. Previous post. Last time we only proved one premise, that some…

Statistics

Class Report: How Not To Teach Statistics

It's over. Two solid weeks of 9 to 5 to 9 and beyond statistics. Plus a few cocktails and cookouts and camaraderie. I'm exhausted. The students are mostly later early…

Culture Philosophy

From Paganism To Christianity To Deism To Malleism

Pagans---the word is not an insult---believed that God was immanent. If you've seen Star Wars, you have it. "The Force" was God, and The Force was everything. To quote that…

Culture Statistics

Casual Sex Is Good for You, Says New Biased Study

In a ridiculously biased "study", a researcher has shown that some college students who self-select to participate in a study of "causal" sex and who say they like having "casual"…

Philosophy Statistics

Probabilities Aren’t Decisions

The title says it all. But its presence implies, and it is true, that people often mistake the two. If you decide to bet fifty bucks the USA beats Germany,…

Philosophy Statistics

The Biggest Error In Regression

I know, I know: we're sick to death of regression, but we have to cover the biggest error, which is how the Deadly Sin of Reification happens. You have a…

Philosophy Statistics

Free Will The Result Of ‘Background Noise’?

Once again the lack of metaphysical training has led some scientists to say an incredibly silly thing. That free will "could be the result of 'background noise' in the brain."…

Briggs on The Dysgenics Of IVFNovember 28, 2025
Anne, Ah, Julian Savulescu. A known lunatic. Thanks.
Anne Webb on The Dysgenics Of IVFNovember 28, 2025
You should take a look at this, where one of the authors argues that we may have a moral obligation…
passerby on Antichrist, by Saint Robert BellarmineNovember 27, 2025
> Too many people know about these prophecies Fat lot of good that did for Cassandra, finest prophet ever.
spaceranger on Antichrist, by Saint Robert BellarmineNovember 27, 2025
The online world is our graven image and celebrity culture our false idol.
Brian (bulaoren) on Old Lodge Skins’ Prayer Of ThanksgivingNovember 27, 2025
One thing I am always grateful for (well, 4 days a week) is being able to enjoy your posts. Thank…