2014 – Page 31 – William M. Briggs

On UFOs, Salt Intake, And Heart Disease

Michael "State of Fear" Crichton once proposed that UFOs were responsible for global warming. Why not? After all, something caused that record amount of snow in Detroit yesterday. Don't get…

Culture Statistics

Government Per Capita Spending: Up, Up, And Away! Or, Happy Tax Day!

Here it is, folks. Right from WhiteHouse.gov. The amount of Federal Government spending per capita from 1901 to the present and projected out to 2019. Population projections were taken from…

Philosophy Statistics

The Hot Hand: Statistical Fluke Or Genuine Article?

I'll save you hunting through the text. It's a real thing. If you want to know why, read on. If not, you just tell 'em W.M. Briggs sez so, which…

Statistics

Truth: Logic of Probability and Statistics

Here, as promised, is rough, incomplete, outline-only, not-yet-finished, gist-only version of Chapter 1, Truth, for the book tentatively titled The Philosophy of Probability and Statistics (I'm also toying with The…

Philosophy Statistics

The Somebody-Might-Get-Hurt! Fallacy

Word is our beneficent government, which loves us and would not see us fall into harm, is working on a design for a system of chains to anchor both citizens…

Culture

How Teachers Learn To Identify Weapons From Non-Weapons

Yet another "educator" has confused the difference between a weapon and the fantasy of one. A 13-year-old boy from New Jersey was suspended from school for two days last week…

Culture

Lawyer Argues We Should Ignore Inconvenient Laws

Ilya Somin calls himself a lawyer, and he probably is one, too. Therefore what he says about the law must be right. Convinced by Somin's arguments, I will later this…

Culture

Science for the State; Or, Lysenko Lives

Jim Fedako (who wrote this piece; send him email) is a business analyst and homeschooling father of seven who lives in Lewis Center, OH. It sometimes seems that every regime…

Ed on Class 65: A Last Plea Never To Use Or Trust Statistical Evidence Like ThisSeptember 18, 2025
As a teacher who's seen, in the eyes of many a student (pun intended), the inglorious mist of complete misunderstanding,…
Uncle Mike on Class 65: A Last Plea Never To Use Or Trust Statistical Evidence Like ThisSeptember 18, 2025
I disagree with your hypothesis that "my career has largely been a failure". You shouldn't expect the world to immediately…
McChuck on Class 65: A Last Plea Never To Use Or Trust Statistical Evidence Like ThisSeptember 18, 2025
Modern scientific statistics is nothing more than a roleplaying game based on a 20 sided die. The game master (study…
Brian (bulaoren) on Lacent’s Vaccination Model Says What Its Told To SaySeptember 17, 2025
Sorry, the same printer's devils who occasionally sabotage Dr. Brigg's publications must have attacked my previous post; Should read; "ouroboros".…
Brian (bulaoren) on Lacent’s Vaccination Model Says What Its Told To SaySeptember 17, 2025
I just thunk up a term to describe this scientiststic strain of thought (hmm, is that one pun or two?);…