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Tag Archives: philosophy of science
Statistical Thinking and the Birth of Modern Computing
What do fighter pilots, casinos, and streetlights all have in common? These three disparate topics are all the subject of statistical thinking that led to (and benefitted from) the development of modern computing. This process is described in Turing’s Cathedral by George … Continue reading
Micro-Institutions Everywhere: Species and Regime Types
In a two-for-one example of micro-institutions, Jay Ulfelder blogs this paragraph from a paper Ian Lustick: One might naively imagine that Darwin’s theory of the “origin of species” to be “only” about animals and plants, not human affairs, and therefore presume its … Continue reading
What is the Future of Publishing?
Today’s journal publishing system is the best possible. If you limit yourself to 17th century technology, that is. Quips like these were sprinkled throughout Jason Priem’s presentation on altmetrics at Duke on Monday. Altmetrics is short for “alternative metrics,” or … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged academica, behavior, communication, ethical statistics, history, how-to, media, philosophy of science, political science, research, science
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My Ten Favorite Posts from the Past Year
As promised yesterday, here are my top ten favorite posts from the first year of YSPR. They are arranged chronologically. Addiction in The English Opium Eater Thoughts on Public Enemies Iraq Casualties and Public Opinion, 2003 Lessons from Moneyball Casinos … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged entertainment, ethical statistics, fun, literature, micro-institutions, nerd, philosophy of science, politics, rhetoric, statistics, traffic, transportation, violence
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Profile of a Conflict Statistician
BALL IS 46, STOCKY, SHORT, and bearded, with glasses and reddish-brown hair, which he used to wear in a ponytail. His manner is mostly endearing geek. But he is also an evangelist, a true believer in the need to get … Continue reading
Visualization Basics: Japanese Multiplication
Data visualization became very popular in 2011, as evidenced by NYT pieces like this one and the release of Nathan Yau‘s book Visualize This. It seems to me that the upper limit of the amount of information a dataviz/infographic/pick-your-term can … Continue reading
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Tagged culture, data visualization, math, philosophy of science, statistics
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Einstein and Reality
David Duff had some thoughtful comments on my post about Stephen Jay Gould’s arguments in The Mismeasure of Man about whether IQ is a “real thing” or just the result of measurement. I will provide further illustration of what I meant … Continue reading
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Tagged measurement, philosophy of science, politics, quantum theory, reality, science
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Are Casualty Statistics Reliable?
The question posed in the title is obviously too broad to be addressed in a single post, but the short answer is “no.”* This has been an unfortunate awakening for me, since I got into the study of political violence … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged casualties, ethical statistics, international relations, measurement, philosophy of science, politics, statistics, violence
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“You Are Not So Smart”
That’s the title of a new book by David McRaney. Here’s part of an excerpt from The Atlantic: You rarely watch films in a social vacuum with no input at all from critics and peers and advertisements. Your expectations are … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged expectations, networks, philosophy of science, rationality, rhetoric, science, socialziation
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Nature and Politics
In the last post I discussed how nature has come to be regarded as a synonym for good, and suggested that that has not always been the case. Indeed, I am indebted to William Cronon for making the same point … Continue reading
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Tagged Hobbes, nature, philosophy of science, politics, pragmatism, rational actor, Rousseau
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