Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
The I-Have-Big-Muscles Fallacy
Harvard graduate walks down the street where a 50-lb sack of cement blocks his way. He reaches down to shift it but discovers that despite all his might the bulk…
Posted inCulture
Orlando Shooting — Open Thread
Today is the first day of class; I originally had another post scheduled, but since I thought readers would like to discuss recent events, and I haven't had time to…
Posted inPhilosophy SAMT
Summary Against Modern Thought: Chance Is Not A Cause
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. Be careful!…
Posted inCulture
Melody May Be A Learned Response?
Received this email from reader Don Siegel: Greetings. Vis a vis how music is getting worse---I'm a prof at Syr. Univ (Earth Sciences) but also lately, a solo jazz guitarist…
Posted inFun
Consider The Hand — Guest Post by the Blonde Blombshell
Editor's note As I prepare for class this weekend, I have some guest posts and reader's questions prepared for us. The poor hands of the modern person are becoming nothing…
Posted inStatistics
Fermi’s Paradox & Gaian Bottlenecks
Democracy (the system) is enough to account for the seeming alien life-form which is Hillary and for whatever that thing is on Trump's head. But as queer as Democracy is…
Posted inPodcast
Trust Me. I’m A Scientist — WMBriggs Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dzAsvJpC10 Download MP3. You'll have to listen in. This is the busiest time of year for me, so I haven't the time to write out a transcript of the show.…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
A Brief Explanation Of Occam’s Razor
We're interested in whether some proposition Y is true. One explanation, perhaps causal or deterministic, or even only probabilistic, is X. Thus, Pr(Y | X) is high or equals 1.…