Posted inCulture Philosophy
Small Things
Have a bit of a bug, so only a few small things today. Red State A reliable, though not infallible, mark of a bad argument is the level of self-congratulation…
Posted inStatistics
Coal-Fired Power Plants Fuel Suicide—Or Maybe Sanguinity
Smokestack Seppuku Whatever you do, don't look at that smokestack! Do, and next thing you know you'll be drawing a knife across your throat. Suicide! Or so says the press…
Posted inStatistics
Top 15 Posts Of All Time: My Choice
When last we met, that sodden yet miserably cold, supposedly summer-ish day, we gandered at the top 20 posts of all time, as decided by you, the reader. It's not…
Posted inStatistics
Tyranny Of The Mean
The mean can be nasty. This should come as news to no one. But since, the good Lord knows why, this topic made it into the New York Times, it…
Posted inStatistics
Unsignificant Statistics: Or Die P-Value, Die Die Die
Must...resist...quoting... from Stephen Ziliak's gorgeous invective "Unsignificant Statistics" (where I stole today's title) in the Financial Post. Well, just a little (all emphasis mine and joyfully placed): Statistical significance is…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Bayes Always Works: An Answer To Senn; Part V
Read Part IV. We're almost done. Only one more after this. There are examples without number of the proper use of Bayes's Theorem: the probability you have cancer given a…
Posted inCulture Philosophy
The Unbelievers: The Movie. Richard Dawkins & Lawrence Krauss On Tour
A camera followed two village atheists on their wanderings, spliced together some of their less tedious talks, sprinkled in a few celebrity cameos, such as one by noted scientist Woody…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Bad Ways Of Speaking About Truth
Easy It is true that all men are mortal. It is also true that 2 + 3 = 5. Yet it is not "true" that all men are mortal, nor…
