Posted inStatistics
DANCES WITHOUT FEATHERS: I of III
In celebration of my having work, I present something that requires no thinking (on my part). Part II Part III PDF DANCES WITHOUT FEATHERS Part I of III Kick...two,…
Posted inPhilosophy
The strange insignificance of statistical significance
Who is more likely to support the death penalty: college undergraduates from a "nationally-ranked Midwestern university with an enrollment of slightly more than 20,000" majoring in social work, or those…
Posted inPhilosophy
Randomness isn’t in charge of anything: the “hot hand” in basketball
The Wall Street Journal is helping Leonard Mlodinow tout his book The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Among other things, Mlodinow, like academics Tversky, Kahneman, and Gilovich before…
Posted inStatistics
Paul Krugman drags out the “T” word again
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is calling for the heads of "deniers" again. In his "Betraying the Planet", he says that anybody who doesn't agree with his understanding on…
Posted inCulture
The Noble Savage Altruistic Warrior
There is a charming myth among idealists that before industrialization and its accoutrements, such as patriarchy and pollution, mankind lived an entirely peaceful existence. That is, there was no war.…
Pink horror
Why do people occasionally enjoy having the bejesus scared out of themselves by watching horror movies? Maybe it's a way to relieve stress or to recall vague, primal memories of…
Posted inStatistics
The Great Government CO2 Power Grab
The inevitable has happened. The Obama government has declared CO2---a nutrient required by plants to live, and a gas exhaled with your every breath---a pollutant. Let there be rejoicing in…
Posted inCulture
Title IX in Science and Engineering
Your university's science and engineering programs might be "Titled nined" if Those That Care have their way. Title IX, or the "Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act", is…