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 | 0.906 | 0.771 | 0.833 | 986 |
| Skeptical | 0.276 | 0.521 | 0.361 | 165 |
| Overall Accuracy | 0.735 | 1151 | ||
| Word/Phrase | English | Coefficient | Skeptical Count | Non-skeptical Count | p-value | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἴτε | whether | 2.6755 | 14 | 3 | 9.5e-10 | 3.17e-07 |
| ὡσ | as; like; how; that; when | 2.6031 | 135 | 433 | 2.17e-09 | 5.42e-07 |
| εἰκόσ | likely; probable; reasonable | 2.5570 | 15 | 16 | 9.14e-06 | 0.000653 |
| ὑπό | under; by (of agent) | 2.5360 | 111 | 348 | 2.9e-08 | 4.83e-06 |
| δῶρον | gift | 2.3926 | 10 | 13 | 0.000929 | 0.0258 |
| οὐ | not | 2.3349 | 180 | 618 | 2.24e-10 | 1.12e-07 |
| κομίζω | I bring, carry, convey | 2.2623 | 23 | 52 | 0.000448 | 0.0149 |
| εἰ | if | 2.1911 | 34 | 65 | 9.84e-07 | 0.000141 |
| δόξα | opinion | 2.1573 | 12 | 23 | 0.00396 | 0.0747 |
| οὗτοσ | this (man) | 2.1367 | 285 | 1089 | 4.66e-12 | 4.66e-09 |
| λόγοσ | word; speech; account; reason; argument | 2.1045 | 56 | 152 | 3.81e-06 | 0.000381 |
| μεγαρεύσ | a Megarian | 1.9148 | 19 | 31 | 5.27e-05 | 0.0026 |
| δέ ἄν | but/and; ἄν is a modal particle indicating potentiality (“would/might”) | 1.9111 | 14 | 12 | 3.31e-06 | 0.000381 |
| γίγνομαι | I become; am born; happen | 1.8442 | 111 | 402 | 1.26e-05 | 0.000841 |
| πρῶτοσ | first | 1.8248 | 50 | 141 | 3.1e-05 | 0.00172 |
| ἅιδησ | Hades | 1.7956 | 10 | 7 | 2.84e-05 | 0.00167 |
| γίγνομαι καί | I become, and | 1.7916 | 12 | 17 | 0.000512 | 0.0165 |
| τίθημι | to put, place, set; establish; appoint | 1.6811 | 31 | 63 | 8.14e-06 | 0.000653 |
| οὐδέν | nothing | 1.6512 | 21 | 51 | 0.00171 | 0.0407 |
| χάρισ | grace | 1.6358 | 7 | 12 | 0.0177 | 0.166 |
| ἄιδω | I sing | 1.6230 | 8 | 15 | 0.017 | 0.163 |
| ὁμολογέω | to agree, admit, or confess | 1.6230 | 15 | 18 | 2.48e-05 | 0.00155 |
| ὀλυμπικόσ | Olympic; of Olympia | 1.6185 | 7 | 8 | 0.00331 | 0.0662 |
| ἀμφισβητέω | to dispute, contest, or question | 1.6100 | 5 | 8 | 0.0366 | 0.253 |
| γυνή | woman; wife | 1.6099 | 48 | 177 | 0.00721 | 0.109 |
| κατασκευάζω | to prepare, construct, equip | 1.6070 | 6 | 8 | 0.0114 | 0.13 |
| οὐ μήν | not, however | 1.5761 | 13 | 10 | 3.46e-06 | 0.000381 |
| ἱδρύω | to establish, found; to set up, seat | 1.5565 | 8 | 15 | 0.017 | 0.163 |
| παῖσ | child | 1.5558 | 84 | 314 | 0.000437 | 0.0149 |
| δέ οὐ | but not | 1.5499 | 36 | 99 | 0.000293 | 0.0109 |
| Word/Phrase | English | Coefficient | Skeptical Count | Non-skeptical Count | p-value | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| βωμόσ | altar | -2.1863 | 5 | 98 | 0.00113 | 0.0305 |
| ἕκαστοσ | each | -1.8971 | 1 | 71 | 0.000295 | 0.0109 |
| μοῖρα | fate, destiny; share, portion | -1.8574 | 1 | 44 | 0.0105 | 0.125 |
| δηλόω | to make clear; to show; to reveal; to indicate | -1.8463 | 5 | 67 | 0.0386 | 0.253 |
| μέλλω | be about to, intend (to) | -1.7801 | 3 | 66 | 0.00977 | 0.125 |
| γραφή | writing; (in Athenian law) public indictment | -1.6778 | 1 | 54 | 0.0033 | 0.0662 |
| γίγνομαι δέ | and I become | -1.6431 | 4 | 48 | 0.172 | 0.548 |
| ἀποστέλλω | I send out | -1.4930 | 1 | 48 | 0.00722 | 0.109 |
| δύο | two | -1.4784 | 5 | 54 | 0.141 | 0.514 |
| καταλαμβάνω | to seize, overtake, catch; grasp, understand | -1.4013 | 0 | 35 | 0.00679 | 0.106 |
| ἐναντίοσ | opposite; contrary; hostile | -1.3951 | 1 | 35 | 0.0347 | 0.251 |
| ἄξιοσ | worthy; deserving | -1.3945 | 2 | 72 | 0.00137 | 0.035 |
| ἑαυτοῦ | of himself/itself; his/its own | -1.3859 | 9 | 85 | 0.13 | 0.488 |
| δημήτριοσ | Demetrius | -1.3259 | 1 | 36 | 0.0346 | 0.251 |
| μάλιστα | especially; very much; certainly | -1.3251 | 23 | 202 | 0.0395 | 0.253 |
| μάχομαι | to fight | -1.3070 | 3 | 50 | 0.0768 | 0.371 |
| τε | and | -1.2701 | 154 | 1101 | 0.00391 | 0.0747 |
| αἰγινήτησ | an Aeginetan (man from Aegina) | -1.2701 | 0 | 24 | 0.0394 | 0.253 |
| ὑπό αὐτόσ | under him | -1.2688 | 0 | 19 | 0.0978 | 0.422 |
| φέρω | I carry; I bring; I bear | -1.2616 | 6 | 71 | 0.0596 | 0.335 |
| ἄγω | I lead; I bring | -1.2590 | 14 | 149 | 0.0156 | 0.159 |
| παυσανίασ | Pausanias | -1.2565 | 1 | 28 | 0.112 | 0.444 |
| ἄκροσ | topmost | -1.2445 | 0 | 33 | 0.0109 | 0.127 |
| βασιλεύσ | king | -1.2417 | 15 | 117 | 0.247 | 0.655 |
| καί παρά | and beside/at/from/to/along/contrary to | -1.2386 | 1 | 37 | 0.0355 | 0.253 |
| ἔχω | I have | -1.2239 | 78 | 495 | 0.402 | 0.795 |
| τρέπω | to turn | -1.2232 | 1 | 29 | 0.115 | 0.454 |
| ἔτι | still; yet | -1.2213 | 27 | 239 | 0.0224 | 0.198 |
| ἐπί θάλασσα | on the sea | -1.2189 | 1 | 46 | 0.0112 | 0.128 |
| τρίπουσ | tripod | -1.2150 | 1 | 24 | 0.162 | 0.53 |
This reduced model keeps only the words or phrases with q-value below 0.1, then turns them into a simple checklist.
Start at -0.82 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 +0.82.
Full logistic model: 73.5% | Simplified checklist: 74.6% | Always guess Non-skeptical: 85.7%
This shorter model uses 62 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 | 760 | 226 |
| Skeptical | 79 | 86 | |
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 764 | 222 |
| Skeptical | 70 | 95 | |
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 986 | 0 |
| Skeptical | 165 | 0 | |
| Word/Phrase | English | Points If Seen | Pushes Toward | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| γραφή | writing; (in Athenian law) public indictment | -4.94 | Non-skeptical | 0.0662 |
| οὐ μήν | not, however | +4.13 | Skeptical | 0.000381 |
| εἴτε | whether | +3.09 | Skeptical | 3.17e-07 |
| μήν | month; indeed, surely | -2.19 | Non-skeptical | 0.0109 |
| ἕκαστοσ | each | -1.97 | Non-skeptical | 0.0109 |
| δῶρον | gift | +1.93 | Skeptical | 0.0258 |
| ἅιδησ | Hades | +1.88 | Skeptical | 0.00167 |
| ὡσ καί | just as | +1.76 | Skeptical | 0.0907 |
| εἰκόσ | likely; probable; reasonable | +1.74 | Skeptical | 0.000653 |
| κρήτη | Crete | +1.72 | Skeptical | 0.0321 |
| ὀλυμπικόσ | Olympic; of Olympia | +1.68 | Skeptical | 0.0662 |
| χείρ | hand | -1.58 | Non-skeptical | 0.0662 |
| γίγνομαι καί | I become, and | +1.52 | Skeptical | 0.0165 |
| ἄξιοσ | worthy; deserving | -1.49 | Non-skeptical | 0.035 |
| δέ ἄν | but/and; ἄν is a modal particle indicating potentiality (“would/might”) | +1.49 | Skeptical | 0.000381 |
| δόξα | opinion | +1.47 | Skeptical | 0.0747 |
| πέλοψ | Pelops | +1.43 | Skeptical | 0.0258 |
| σαφήσ | clear | +1.41 | Skeptical | 0.0381 |
| ὁμολογέω | to agree, admit, or confess | +1.30 | Skeptical | 0.00155 |
| δράκων | serpent; dragon | +1.28 | Skeptical | 0.0777 |
| μεγαρεύσ | a Megarian | +1.25 | Skeptical | 0.0026 |
| κομίζω | I bring, carry, convey | +1.22 | Skeptical | 0.0149 |
| βωμόσ | altar | -1.06 | Non-skeptical | 0.0305 |
| ποίησισ | poetry, making, creation | +0.93 | Skeptical | 0.0907 |
| εἰκάζω | to liken; to conjecture, infer, guess | +0.93 | Skeptical | 0.0907 |
| λόγοσ | word; speech; account; reason; argument | +0.84 | Skeptical | 0.000381 |
| οὐδέν | nothing | +0.81 | Skeptical | 0.0407 |
| καί ὡσ | and as | +0.74 | Skeptical | 0.021 |
| τίθημι | to put, place, set; establish; appoint | +0.74 | Skeptical | 0.000653 |
| νεκρόσ | dead; corpse | +0.71 | Skeptical | 0.00238 |
| εἰ | if | +0.71 | Skeptical | 0.000141 |
| πρῶτοσ | first | +0.70 | Skeptical | 0.00172 |
| δέ ὄνομα | but a name | +0.64 | Skeptical | 0.0149 |
| ἔτοσ | year | -0.64 | Non-skeptical | 0.0981 |
| ὑπό | under; by (of agent) | +0.62 | Skeptical | 4.83e-06 |
| οὐδείσ | no one | +0.60 | Skeptical | 0.0552 |
| φαίνω | to bring to light; to show; to reveal | +0.60 | Skeptical | 0.0777 |
| μήτηρ | mother | +0.58 | Skeptical | 0.0747 |
| ὅστισ | whoever | +0.57 | Skeptical | 0.0662 |
| ὀνομάζω | to name; to call; to mention | +0.57 | Skeptical | 0.0109 |
| εἰ δέ | but if | +0.56 | Skeptical | 0.0026 |
| δέ οὐ | but not | +0.51 | Skeptical | 0.0109 |
| ὄνομα | name | +0.50 | Skeptical | 4.33e-06 |
| μετά | with (when followed by the genitive); after (when followed by the accusative) | -0.46 | Non-skeptical | 0.0981 |
| εἴην | I would be; may I be | +0.46 | Skeptical | 0.0109 |
| παῖσ | child | +0.44 | Skeptical | 0.0149 |
| καί οὗτοσ | and this man | +0.44 | Skeptical | 0.000653 |
| οὐ | not | +0.43 | Skeptical | 1.12e-07 |
| γῆ | earth, land | +0.41 | Skeptical | 0.0777 |
| τε | and | -0.40 | Non-skeptical | 0.0747 |
| θυγάτηρ | daughter | +0.38 | Skeptical | 0.0173 |
| οὗτοσ | this (man) | +0.38 | Skeptical | 4.66e-09 |
| αὐτόσ | self; he/she/it; the same (with the article) | +0.34 | Skeptical | 0.00676 |
| ἐπεί | when, after, since | +0.34 | Skeptical | 0.0799 |
| ὡσ | as; like; how; that; when | +0.27 | Skeptical | 5.42e-07 |
| ἀνήρ | man | +0.26 | Skeptical | 0.0507 |
| ἄν | would; might; could; -ever (as in whoever/whenever) | +0.26 | Skeptical | 0.000653 |
| μέν οὐ | indeed not | +0.23 | Skeptical | 0.0223 |
| γίγνομαι | I become; am born; happen | +0.20 | Skeptical | 0.000841 |
| γε | at least | +0.10 | Skeptical | 0.0662 |
| ἀπό | from, away from | +0.07 | Skeptical | 0.0662 |
| τισ | someone, anyone; a certain (one) | +0.03 | Skeptical | 0.0376 |