Author Archives: Fallacy Man

Basic Statistics Part 3: The Dangers of Large Data Sets: A Tale of P values, Error Rates, and Bonferroni Corrections

In previous posts, I have explained the importance of having lots of data, but what I failed to mention was the dangers of analyzing these large data sets. You see, all real data has variation in it, and when you … Continue reading

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What does it mean to be a skeptic?

It is good to be skeptical about everything that you hear and read. In fact, skepticism is one of the defining characteristics of a scientist. Nevertheless, terms like “skeptic” and “open-minded” are often misappropriated by people in the anti-science movement, … Continue reading

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Evolution is blind

One of the central tenets of evolutionary biology is the concept that evolution is blind. In other words, it has not foresight or goal. This principle is extremely important for understanding how evolution works, but it’s a concept that is … Continue reading

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7 easy ways to lose a debate

One of the saddest statistics about my life is the amount of time that I spend pointlessly debating anti-scientists. Having devoted so much time to this endeavor has, however, allowed me to observe certain patterns and trends in their debate … Continue reading

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2 biggest lies of the anti-vaccine movement

It’s no great secret that the anti-vaccine movement is rife with scientific inaccuracies and logical fallacies, but a few of their claims are so extraordinarily erroneous and demonstrably false that I have difficulty calling them anything other lies. There are … Continue reading

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