Sentence-level words and phrases that predict skepticism vs. non-skepticism
The following metrics are from the logistic regression classifier's performance on the test set:
| Class | Precision | Recall | F1-Score | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | 0.905 | 0.755 | 0.823 | 974 |
| Skeptical | 0.278 | 0.544 | 0.368 | 169 |
| Overall Accuracy | 0.724 | 1143 | ||
| Word/Phrase | English | Coefficient | Skeptical Count | Non-skeptical Count | p-value | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἴτε | whether | 2.8824 | 14 | 3 | 1.03e-09 | 3.43e-07 |
| ὡσ | as; like; how; that; when | 2.7474 | 135 | 431 | 2.49e-09 | 6.23e-07 |
| ὑπό | under; by (of agent) | 2.5840 | 111 | 345 | 2.71e-08 | 4.52e-06 |
| δῶρον | gift | 2.4157 | 10 | 13 | 0.000975 | 0.0279 |
| γίγνομαι καί | I become, and | 2.4091 | 12 | 17 | 0.000542 | 0.0187 |
| οὗτοσ | this (man) | 2.3894 | 284 | 1082 | 7.95e-12 | 7.95e-09 |
| κομίζω | I bring, carry, convey | 2.3523 | 23 | 52 | 0.00049 | 0.0181 |
| εἰκόσ | likely; probable; reasonable | 2.3128 | 15 | 16 | 9.85e-06 | 0.000821 |
| οὐ | not | 2.1086 | 179 | 615 | 4.4e-10 | 2.2e-07 |
| ἅιδησ | Hades | 2.0674 | 10 | 7 | 3e-05 | 0.00176 |
| εἰ | if | 2.0644 | 34 | 65 | 1.13e-06 | 0.000161 |
| μεγαρεύσ | a Megarian | 2.0617 | 19 | 31 | 5.73e-05 | 0.00275 |
| λόγοσ | word; speech; account; reason; argument | 2.0597 | 56 | 151 | 3.88e-06 | 0.000432 |
| γίγνομαι | I become; am born; happen | 2.0005 | 111 | 401 | 1.51e-05 | 0.00108 |
| ὀλυμπικόσ | Olympic; of Olympia | 1.8229 | 7 | 8 | 0.00343 | 0.07 |
| σαφήσ | clear | 1.7855 | 8 | 9 | 0.00163 | 0.0417 |
| δόξα | opinion | 1.7719 | 12 | 23 | 0.00417 | 0.0811 |
| κατασκευάζω | to prepare, construct, equip | 1.7530 | 6 | 8 | 0.0118 | 0.138 |
| διάφοροσ | different, at variance, hostile | 1.7443 | 10 | 21 | 0.0148 | 0.154 |
| δέ ἄν | but/and; ἄν is a modal particle indicating potentiality (“would/might”) | 1.7245 | 13 | 12 | 1.36e-05 | 0.00105 |
| ἄιδω | I sing | 1.6963 | 8 | 15 | 0.0176 | 0.168 |
| οὐ μήν | not, however | 1.6820 | 13 | 10 | 3.7e-06 | 0.000432 |
| ὀρέστησ | Orestes | 1.6790 | 8 | 22 | 0.0942 | 0.424 |
| ποσειδῶν | Poseidon | 1.6663 | 22 | 72 | 0.0278 | 0.226 |
| αὐτόσ | self; he/she/it; the same (with the article) | 1.6552 | 258 | 1172 | 0.000128 | 0.0058 |
| πρῶτοσ | first | 1.6492 | 50 | 141 | 3.64e-05 | 0.00202 |
| χάρισ | grace | 1.6428 | 7 | 12 | 0.0183 | 0.168 |
| εἰκάζω | to liken; to conjecture, infer, guess | 1.6352 | 14 | 31 | 0.00576 | 0.0959 |
| ἑπτά | seven | 1.5958 | 6 | 12 | 0.0501 | 0.319 |
| ποίησισ | poetry, making, creation | 1.5774 | 7 | 8 | 0.00343 | 0.07 |
| Word/Phrase | English | Coefficient | Skeptical Count | Non-skeptical Count | p-value | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| βωμόσ | altar | -2.0131 | 5 | 98 | 0.00104 | 0.029 |
| ἕκαστοσ | each | -1.8317 | 1 | 69 | 0.000273 | 0.0112 |
| μοῖρα | fate, destiny; share, portion | -1.7811 | 1 | 44 | 0.0105 | 0.133 |
| γραφή | writing; (in Athenian law) public indictment | -1.6428 | 1 | 53 | 0.00319 | 0.0679 |
| γίγνομαι δέ | and I become | -1.6116 | 4 | 48 | 0.172 | 0.556 |
| δηλόω | to make clear; to show; to reveal; to indicate | -1.6022 | 5 | 67 | 0.0369 | 0.272 |
| χείρ | hand | -1.4412 | 1 | 51 | 0.00493 | 0.0864 |
| ἀποστέλλω | I send out | -1.4265 | 1 | 48 | 0.00727 | 0.109 |
| ἑαυτοῦ | of himself/itself; his/its own | -1.4172 | 9 | 84 | 0.134 | 0.501 |
| μεσσήνιοσ | Messenian | -1.4166 | 11 | 120 | 0.0238 | 0.205 |
| λέσχη | clubhouse; meeting-hall | -1.3933 | 0 | 18 | 0.095 | 0.424 |
| ἄκροσ | topmost | -1.3841 | 0 | 33 | 0.011 | 0.135 |
| ἄγω | I lead; I bring | -1.3723 | 14 | 149 | 0.0144 | 0.153 |
| καταλαμβάνω | to seize, overtake, catch; grasp, understand | -1.3440 | 0 | 35 | 0.00682 | 0.107 |
| ἄξιοσ | worthy; deserving | -1.3404 | 2 | 72 | 0.00139 | 0.0365 |
| καί παρά | and beside/at/from/to/along/contrary to | -1.3130 | 1 | 37 | 0.0357 | 0.266 |
| ἐναντίοσ | opposite; contrary; hostile | -1.3093 | 1 | 35 | 0.0345 | 0.265 |
| αἰγινήτησ | an Aeginetan (man from Aegina) | -1.3003 | 0 | 24 | 0.0395 | 0.272 |
| ὑπό αὐτόσ | under him | -1.2858 | 0 | 19 | 0.0982 | 0.429 |
| μέλλω | be about to, intend (to) | -1.2678 | 3 | 64 | 0.0141 | 0.153 |
| βοιωτόσ | Boeotian | -1.2582 | 1 | 32 | 0.0511 | 0.32 |
| ἐπί θάλασσα | on the sea | -1.2536 | 1 | 46 | 0.00706 | 0.109 |
| ἱερόν | temple; sanctuary | -1.2514 | 14 | 120 | 0.128 | 0.488 |
| ἵστημι | to set, make stand; establish; stop; (intrans.) stand | -1.2348 | 4 | 78 | 0.00724 | 0.109 |
| πλησίον | near; nearby; close (to); neighbor (as a noun) | -1.2278 | 8 | 80 | 0.102 | 0.443 |
| ὡσ ἐπί | for the most part | -1.2258 | 0 | 18 | 0.095 | 0.424 |
| δύο | two | -1.2087 | 5 | 51 | 0.18 | 0.571 |
| μάλιστα | especially; very much; certainly | -1.1975 | 23 | 200 | 0.0412 | 0.28 |
| τόλμημα | daring deed | -1.1857 | 0 | 23 | 0.0387 | 0.272 |
| ἱερόσ καί | holy and | -1.1777 | 2 | 37 | 0.111 | 0.448 |
This reduced model keeps only the words or phrases with q-value below 0.1, then turns them into a simple checklist.
Start at -0.88 points. If one of the items below appears at least once, add its points once. If the final score ends above 0, classify the text as Skeptical. That is the same as saying the listed word-points must add up past +0.88.
Full logistic model: 72.4% | Simplified checklist: 72.8% | Always guess Non-skeptical: 85.2%
This shorter model uses 60 statistically strong vocabulary items.
These confusion matrices show which texts each approach gets right and where it makes false alarms or misses.
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 735 | 239 |
| Skeptical | 77 | 92 | |
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 743 | 231 |
| Skeptical | 80 | 89 | |
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 974 | 0 |
| Skeptical | 169 | 0 | |
| Word/Phrase | English | Points If Seen | Pushes Toward | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| γραφή | writing; (in Athenian law) public indictment | -5.12 | Non-skeptical | 0.0679 |
| χείρ | hand | -4.87 | Non-skeptical | 0.0864 |
| οὐ μήν | not, however | +3.89 | Skeptical | 0.000432 |
| εἴτε | whether | +2.80 | Skeptical | 3.43e-07 |
| ἅιδησ | Hades | +2.21 | Skeptical | 0.00176 |
| ὀλυμπικόσ | Olympic; of Olympia | +2.09 | Skeptical | 0.07 |
| ἕκαστοσ | each | -2.05 | Non-skeptical | 0.0112 |
| δῶρον | gift | +1.94 | Skeptical | 0.0279 |
| κρήτη | Crete | +1.89 | Skeptical | 0.0345 |
| γίγνομαι καί | I become, and | +1.84 | Skeptical | 0.0187 |
| μήν | month; indeed, surely | -1.81 | Non-skeptical | 0.0112 |
| σαφήσ | clear | +1.59 | Skeptical | 0.0417 |
| δέ ἄν | but/and; ἄν is a modal particle indicating potentiality (“would/might”) | +1.53 | Skeptical | 0.00105 |
| εἰκόσ | likely; probable; reasonable | +1.51 | Skeptical | 0.000821 |
| ὡσ καί | just as | +1.47 | Skeptical | 0.0959 |
| δράκων | serpent; dragon | +1.47 | Skeptical | 0.0856 |
| ἄξιοσ | worthy; deserving | -1.41 | Non-skeptical | 0.0365 |
| ποίησισ | poetry, making, creation | +1.38 | Skeptical | 0.07 |
| ὁμολογέω | to agree, admit, or confess | +1.29 | Skeptical | 0.00166 |
| μεγαρεύσ | a Megarian | +1.26 | Skeptical | 0.00275 |
| κομίζω | I bring, carry, convey | +1.26 | Skeptical | 0.0181 |
| εἰκάζω | to liken; to conjecture, infer, guess | +1.12 | Skeptical | 0.0959 |
| βωμόσ | altar | -1.08 | Non-skeptical | 0.029 |
| δόξα | opinion | +1.03 | Skeptical | 0.0811 |
| νεκρόσ | dead; corpse | +0.85 | Skeptical | 0.00256 |
| λόγοσ | word; speech; account; reason; argument | +0.80 | Skeptical | 0.000432 |
| οὐδέν | nothing | +0.79 | Skeptical | 0.0439 |
| ἔτοσ | year | -0.77 | Non-skeptical | 0.0959 |
| τίθημι | to put, place, set; establish; appoint | +0.72 | Skeptical | 0.000821 |
| πρῶτοσ | first | +0.70 | Skeptical | 0.00202 |
| εἰ | if | +0.69 | Skeptical | 0.000161 |
| μήτηρ | mother | +0.67 | Skeptical | 0.0811 |
| ὅστισ | whoever | +0.64 | Skeptical | 0.067 |
| ὄνομα ἀπό | name from | +0.62 | Skeptical | 0.0236 |
| ὄνομα | name | +0.62 | Skeptical | 3.5e-06 |
| ὑπό | under; by (of agent) | +0.60 | Skeptical | 4.52e-06 |
| θυγάτηρ | daughter | +0.58 | Skeptical | 0.0187 |
| εἰ δέ | but if | +0.57 | Skeptical | 0.00275 |
| οὐδείσ | no one | +0.57 | Skeptical | 0.0626 |
| μέν οὐ | indeed not | +0.56 | Skeptical | 0.0236 |
| φαίνω | to bring to light; to show; to reveal | +0.52 | Skeptical | 0.0856 |
| καί οὗτοσ | and this man | +0.50 | Skeptical | 0.000515 |
| ὀνομάζω | to name; to call; to mention | +0.50 | Skeptical | 0.0128 |
| εἴην | I would be; may I be | +0.46 | Skeptical | 0.0198 |
| οὗτοσ | this (man) | +0.43 | Skeptical | 7.95e-09 |
| δέ οὐ | but not | +0.42 | Skeptical | 0.0112 |
| παῖσ | child | +0.41 | Skeptical | 0.0199 |
| τε | and | -0.38 | Non-skeptical | 0.0859 |
| αὐτόσ | self; he/she/it; the same (with the article) | +0.37 | Skeptical | 0.0058 |
| οὐ | not | +0.37 | Skeptical | 2.2e-07 |
| γῆ | earth, land | +0.36 | Skeptical | 0.0785 |
| ὡσ | as; like; how; that; when | +0.34 | Skeptical | 6.23e-07 |
| καί ὡσ | and as | +0.34 | Skeptical | 0.0236 |
| ἀπό | from, away from | +0.26 | Skeptical | 0.0679 |
| ἐπεί | when, after, since | +0.26 | Skeptical | 0.0864 |
| τισ | someone, anyone; a certain (one) | +0.26 | Skeptical | 0.0432 |
| γίγνομαι | I become; am born; happen | +0.23 | Skeptical | 0.00108 |
| ἀνήρ | man | +0.16 | Skeptical | 0.0439 |
| γε | at least | +0.12 | Skeptical | 0.067 |
| ἄν | would; might; could; -ever (as in whoever/whenever) | +0.04 | Skeptical | 0.00136 |