Another response by Lydia McGrew that misses the point entirely
Here's a response video by Lydia McGrew that misses the point entirely: https://youtu.be/yazFM_qlsHI?si=LX_ClYr4naTtSGkf Maybe I have not been clear, so I feel I really need …
bblais on the web
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More inflating of Bayes Factors
My post about inflating Bayes Factors with nothing has given Lydia McGrew a lot to talk about over on her blog . If you scroll down to the comments, you'll see …
More Response Bayes, Skeptics, and the Resurrection
There has been a bit of time since my original response to the Christopoulos-McGrew series , along with some responses such as: Modern Atheist gave a response to Video 6 A …
How to Inflate your Bayes Factor with Nothing
I was recently directed to some work by Lydia McGrew , as I was responding to hers and Than Christopoulos's 9-part response to Paulogia's video featuring me where we were responding …
Response Bayes, Skeptics, and the Resurrection
Here I am responding to a series of videos from Lydia McGrew and Than Christopoulos. https://youtu.be/ubw1d5QH2gE?si=bCUyUbbwoGFMZ1km https://youtu.be/dd_oafZNH68?si=1jQyhZDG13LddK-O https://youtu.be …
Making Cents of Calorie Counting
The Physics Diet essentially is Energy In < Energy Out. This is the same as Calories In < Calories Out or "maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight". This is obviously not …
There is no evidence for God
On Alex O'Connor's podcast, he discusses with Joe Schmid, Atheist Slogans You Should Stop Using ( https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/alex-oconnor4/episodes/Atheist-Slogans-You-Should-Stop-Using---Joe-Schmid-e3eqc52 ). I am not that far into …
Dr. Egnor's bad arguments for the soul
Here's a video where Dr. Michael Egnor presents arguments and evidence for the existence and properties of the soul. For someone who studies the brain, Dr Egnor is remarkably sloppy …
What Bayes’ Theorem Really Says About the Resurrection (feat Brian Blais/Than Christopoulos resp)
Is the "Maximal Data Case" for the resurrection of Jesus a sophisticated historical argument, or just "for the Bible tells me so" with extra steps?. When apologist Than Christopoulos accused …
The Nines Deck and Scientific Reasoning
I wrote about the Nines Deck here as an example of multiple model comparison. Here I want to extend the example to explore more about scientific reasoning. I ended my …
The Nines Deck and Non-Monotonic Probability Changes
I realized that I don't have a blog post about my favorite simple probability example, the High-Low Deck Game. I've written about it in Statistical Inference for Everyone but I …
The "dead men stay dead" argument
Another piece from this article by Than Christopoulos which caught my eye. Among the many arguments skeptics use to support an exceedingly low prior probability of the resurrection, one of …
Bayesian Analysis and its Misuses
In Paulogia's response video , he defines Bayesian analysis as: "Bayesian analysis is a quantification and mathematical description of presuppositions and natural decision-making processes" which Than and others took umbrage. They …
Mundane vs Miraculous claims
I've been thinking lately about a particular criticism of apologist techniques. Apologists will argue for the general reliability of texts using relatively mundane claims which can be verified externally, and …
Falsification is a real thing
In a response video with Than Christopoulos , Than says at 35:10 : "I have a video titled " Do Christians make excuses for their faith " [...] why this constant complaint from internet …
Swinburne and Than need to make predictions and not be post-hoc
I just listened to the Debate Between Than Christopoulos and Matt Dillahunty about the question "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead" and the response by Paulogia and the reponse to …
Bayes Theorem and a Critique of Maximal Case for the Resurrection
I read with interest this article by Than Christopoulos after seeing his debate with Matt Dilahunty which I hope to respond to at some point. Than is very excited about …
Do ‘Spirit’ and ‘Supernatural Agency’ Explain Anything?
Been a while since I've written here, so getting back into it with a short observation. I notice that some theists critique naturalists by claiming that the latter believe nothing …
Response to Oxford Mathematician [John Lennox] DESTROYS Atheism (15 Minute Brilliancy!)
A friend of mine recently sent me this video to get a response. I haven't done a deep dive into this for a while, so I figured I'd go through …
Energy Balance Revisited
Going back a few years I published an article simplifying the calculations for atmospheric greenhouse gas effects for undergraduate non-science majors, Blais, B. (2003). Teaching energy balance using round numbers …
Leon Cooper passes away
My mentor and friend Leon Cooper has died at the age of 94. I am still grappling with this news, hitting me harder than I expected. However, why wouldn't I …
Reproducing Richard Carrier's Calculations
It is said that a published work without the code is little more than an advertisement. It is for this reason that I try to make sure that I publish …
A poor introduction to Bayesian Reasoning
I've had my disagreements with Jonathan McLatchie a few times, some of it here , and now there is another interview Bayesian Probability and Intelligent Design: A Beginner's Guide that someone …
What would I expect to be in the Bible?
I've read the entire Bible twice, the most recent time this past year . Both times I was underwhelmed by the content in the book. It had so much barbarism, and …
"Why I became an atheist" Part 1 and Part 2- John Loftus & Peter May - 05 April 2008, 12 April 2008
As part of the Unbelievable Project , I am taking notes and "arm-chair" responding to each of the Unbelievable podcast episodes satisfying a set of simple rules . See here for a …
Some More Comments on Undesigned Coincidences
An "undesigned coincidence" is used in an argument for the reliability of the Gospels, notable by Jonathan McLatchie, Tim McGrew and Lydia McGrew, and is defined as When you have …
Can Science Explain Everything?
Can science explain everything? Christian guest John Lennox is emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Oxford University. Atheist guest Peter Atkins is emeritus Professor of Chemistry at …
How NaNoWriMo Got Me Back to the Gym
So National Novel Writing Month ( NaNoWriMo ) is here, and it has its usual ups and downs as expected. For this event, you commit to writing 50,000 words of a …
What Does Probability have to do with God?
In this talk, I will present a framework for rational inquiry based on probability theory. Probability theory is a branch of mathematics that deals with uncertainty and how to reason …
Richard Bauckham and the Distribution of Names
My work with Kamil Gregor on the reexamination of the analysis of names from Richard Bauckham's Jesus and the Eyewitnesses has been published: Gregor, K., & Blais, B. (2023). Is Name …
Bible in a Year
So I listened to the Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz where Fr. Mike Schmitz reads the entire bible across 365 days. I had read the Bible …
Why the fine tuning argument is not convincing to me
The fine-tuning argument is an argument in philosophy and cosmology that suggests the existence of a fine-tuned universe points towards the existence of a intelligent designer or a purpose behind …
Claims are not (always) evidence
Here's my short rambling rant about the claims-evidence distinction. In a number of debates, but more famously this one with Jonathan McLatchie , Matt Dillahunty states that "claims are not evidence …
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan I think no pithy quote has caused so much angst with apologists than this one from Carl Sagan, directed in particular to religious …
Probability and the Independence of Testimony
In a previous post I examined a simple model of the interaction of testimony with scientific inquiry, and how it can affect the probabilities of the truth of miracle claims …
Walking through 6 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Learn Code
So I was poking around on the web and decided to watch the video "THE Game Changer for Learning to Code" https://www.youtube.com/embed/H1fBdboJeBo and then attempt …
One Rule to Rule Them All
I'm giving a talk at the Fall Cross-Disciplinary Research, Teaching and Technology Symposium on Wednesday November 9th, 2:00PM – 5:00PM at Bryant University. The theme this semester is Bayesian …
Miracles with Brian Blais
Matthew and Andrew welcome me back to talk about miracles. Andrew gives an update on the failed prayer to heal his eyesight, and towards the end of the show, there …
The "God" of the Philosophers Is Empty
So I recently had a bit of a discussion which ended somewhat abruptly with complaints of category errors on my part and implied scientism. The initial Tweet was: https://twitter …
Bad Apologetics on Bayes - Part 3
In this YouTube episode, Bad Apologetics Ep 18 - Bayes Machine goes BRRRRRRRRR I join Nathan Ormond , Kamil Gregor , and James Fodor to discuss Timothy and Lydia McGrew's article in The …
Bad Apologetics on Bayes - Part 2
In this YouTube episode, Bad Apologetics Ep 18 - Bayes Machine goes BRRRRRRRRR I join Nathan Ormond , Kamil Gregor , and James Fodor to discuss Timothy and Lydia McGrew's article in The …
Why undesigned coincidences are not compelling to me
An "undesigned coincidence" is used in an argument for the reliability of the Gospels, notable by Jonathan McLatchie, Tim McGrew and Lydia McGrew, and is defined as When you have …
Sometimes more testimony is worse.
When asked the question raised by McLatchie, I would have to say that new testimony does not raise my probability for a miracle, mostly because all prior attempts to do …
Why do we need double-blind studies?
I was recently reading some articles about dubious medical procedures , and the claims of miraculous healings. I was struck by a level of credulity with some of these claims, but …
Bad Apologetics on Bayes - Part 1
In this YouTube episode, Bad Apologetics Ep 18 - Bayes Machine goes BRRRRRRRRR I join Nathan Ormond , Kamil Gregor , and James Fodor to discuss Timothy and Lydia McGrew's article in The …
A long discussion about miracles
Here I summarize the (9 hour!) conversation that I was a part of here: Bad Apologetics Ep 20 - Miracles & even MORE even NEWER Resurrection evidence where we respond to the …
Miracles are rare except when they aren't
In this week's Unbelievable Podcast the topic was miracles. I've written about miracles a number of times , but there always seems to something new to say. In this episode, the …
Sometimes there really isn't enough evidence to believe a claim
A particular response has now happened twice in an ongoing discussion about extraordinary claims, and I felt I needed to think about it more deeply. The response is, essentially, that …
Ongoing Conversation with Jonathan McLatchie
I'd like to thank Jonathan McLatchie for the detailed response to my two-part response. If you're following along, we have: Unbelievable podcast episode Do extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence? Jonathan …
Bad Apologetics
In the Unbelievable podcast episode Do extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence? Jonathan McLatchie vs Jonathan Pearce I was struck by several claims and points, especially made by Jonathan McLatchie. I …