Posted inPhilosophy
Science? What’s That?
Definition Science is the measurement of quantifiable things. That which is not measurable is not science. Causality and morality and consciousness and so on are not measurable and therefore are…
Posted inStatistics
Class Report: How Not To Teach Statistics
It's over. Two solid weeks of 9 to 5 to 9 and beyond statistics. Plus a few cocktails and cookouts and camaraderie. I'm exhausted. The students are mostly later early…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Probabilities Aren’t Decisions
The title says it all. But its presence implies, and it is true, that people often mistake the two. If you decide to bet fifty bucks the USA beats Germany,…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
The Biggest Error In Regression
I know, I know: we're sick to death of regression, but we have to cover the biggest error, which is how the Deadly Sin of Reification happens. You have a…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
The Applicability Of Experiments
Every probability problem has the form Pr(Q|E), where Q is the proposition of interest and E the evidence, premises, or "data" probative (or not) of E. Change the evidence, change…
Posted inStatistics
The Cult Of The Parameter!
Carla Antonaccio has written, "The term cult identifies a pattern of ritual behavior in connection with specific objects, within a framework of spatial and temporal coordinates. Rituals would include (but…
Posted inCulture
Teaching Comes First. But Only If You Bring In Grants. And Publish
Since it's teaching time, via Nick B Steves via Bruce Charlton comes this reminiscence of Oxford in the 1970s. In the 70s it was still possible for a distinguished head…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
The Deadly Sin Of Reification! Day Three
Zeno Phobia Counting day. How many ways can you skin a cat if the number of sharp versus dull knives is this and such. Simple stuff, easy to get the…