May 2015 – Page 3 – William M. Briggs

Encyclical Delayed, Possibly Downgraded To Lesser Form?

The encyclical might be downgraded to some lesser form of "statement." This is the rumor as reported to me from "sources." Given the excitement the encyclical generated on the left,…

Culture Statistics

The New Pew Religion Survey Isn’t What You Think (Probably)

Lot of chatter over the new Pew survey of religiosity, "Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population; Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow". Main result: Christianity down, "nones" up.…

Culture Podcast Statistics

The Pontifical Academy’s Sustainablity Conference Podcast

CLICK HERE TO GET TO THE PODCAST Arrgh. I'm trying out a new podcasting plugin. It puts the podcasts into something-which-isn't-a-post and which is impossible to find. So here is…

Culture Philosophy Statistics

What Does “Sustainability” Really Mean?

I had originally titled today's article as "The Theology of Sustainability", which has a certain ring to it. But I admit the title chosen by the Crisis editors probably results…

Statistics

Hypothesis Testing Relies On The Fallacy Of False Dichotomy

Classical hypothesis testing is founded on the fallacy of the false dichotomy. The false dichotomy says of two hypotheses that if one hypothesis is false, the other must be true.…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: More On God’s Omniscience

See the first post in this series for an explanation and guide of our tour of Summa Contra Gentiles. All posts are under the category SAMT. Previous post. The reading…

Culture

Arguing About Climate Is Largely Pointless

Regular readers will already know that arguing with climate-of-doom True Believers is pointless. Don't bother. A for instance. When my piece appeared at Crisis on the Pontifical Academy for Science's…

Culture

British Elections Open Thread. The Return of Nationalism?

We haven't discussed much the elections of our English-speaking cousins, but it's worth doing because of how this one played out. Particularly in its nationalistic aspects. Ed Miliband, Labour, a…

John Pate on Caution Against The Precautionary Principle: Interview with Jaap HanekampJuly 22, 2026
Considering "climate change" went out the window when the powers that be wanted more data centres I'm sure the Precautionary…
Cary D Cotterman on Believing In God Makes You Crave Potato Chips, Say AcademicsJuly 22, 2026
Hean Tat Keh Good Pharaoh name.
The True Nolan on University of California Prof Tries To Save System From DIEingJuly 20, 2026
?I used to know a guy who didn't speak German. But that didn't stop him from sounding like he spoke…
spetzer86 on Believing In God Makes You Crave Potato Chips, Say AcademicsJuly 20, 2026
How are hash browns "ultra-processed"? They are essentially baked potatoes that were shredded and then fried until their collective exteriors…
Jethro Rusticus on Believing In God Makes You Crave Potato Chips, Say AcademicsJuly 20, 2026
Alternative interpretation of the data: Believing in God mKes you less depressed so you eat rather than starve yourself like…