Koans (March 29, 2006)

A koan is a story used in Buddhist teaching that involves a seemingly meaningless or contradictory statement. Careful contemplation of this statement leads you to a more fuller understanding of Buddhism. Although koans have an overt link to religion, they have been used by others to illustrate difficult non-religious issues. I have some examples of religious and non-religious koans.

In the spirit of this literary style, I offer a few statistical koans. The most recently written koans are at the top of the list.

• Some Useless Gifts
• The Busy Tailor
• The Bowl of Wax Fruit
• A Visit From A Thief
• The Blindfolded Donkey
• The Other Ninety Nine Samples
• The Only True Path

This is a rather unusual literary device for teaching, but I think it is well suited for some of the subtle but important distinctions that we draw in statistics. I'm interested in your comments, thoughts, and suggestions about these koans.

When I get time, I would like to add commentary about these koans.

Stats >> Koans