Richard Carrier’s Bayesian Challenge to Jesus Studies
Richard Carrier
The study of Jesus is rife with bias, assumptions, and an alarming lack of data. In this short, non-technical and informative podcast, historian and philosopher Dr. Richard Carrier talks about how he examines these issues in his new book, Proving History, Bayes’s Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus. Bayes’ Theorem is a logical argument expressed mathematically to calculate the probability of a belief. Carrier assesses the logical foundations and practical applications of both methods and criteria historians use, and he does so through the lens of Bayes’ Theorem.
Hi! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics? Thanks a lot!
William Briggs (self proclaimed Statistician to the Stars) heavily employs Bayes’ Theorem to disprove Global Climate Change and many other issues which are contrary to the conservative Christian world view.
Visit his blog (http://wmbriggs.com/) for some extremely technical and challenging blog entries. He’s an arrogant bastard, but is undeniably a heavy hitter. Right or wrong, like a Christopher Hitchens, he would destroy Carrier in a debate.
Also, how could you have this interview with no mention of Bart Ehrman and Carrier’s interchanges regarding Ehrman’s latest book?
I must say as a person who spent a decade on the Cal campus, that Carrier’s attack on Searle’s Chinese Room Argument (in Sense and Goodness Without God) is so poorly conceived and executed that it casts doubt on his credibility on any subject.