Books
Books that I have written.
Media Appearances
Podcasts and Videos in which I have appeared or which I have created.
pyndamics3
Dynamical systems simulation in Python. Includes both continuous and stochastic simulation.
Stats for Everyone
An introductory stats book from a Bayesian perspective, including Python software.
I am a Scientist, Skeptic, and Professor at Bryant University. My goal is to make technical subject matters widely accessible and to use my analytical and computational skills to assist anyone with their science-related problems.
Blog
Bible in a Year -- My experience
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 …
#religion
Why the fine tuning argument is not convincing to me (Part 1 of 2)
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 …
#religion
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 …
#religion
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence a probabilistic analysis
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 …
#religion
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 …
#religion
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 …
#programming
One Rule to Rule Them All Bayesian Analysis in the Sciences
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 …
#science
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 …
#media
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:
#religion
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 …
#religion
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 …
#religion
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 …
#religion
Sometimes more testimony is worse. Scientific methods impact source reliability
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 …
#religion
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 …
#science
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 …
#religion
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 …
#media
Miracles are rare except when they aren't -- how science actually makes miracle claims unlikely
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 …
#religion
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 …
#religion
Ongoing Conversation with Jonathan McLatchie including what would convince me, a visit from Jean Luc Picard, and more
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 …
#religion
Bad Apologetics miscellaneous topics from Jonathan McLatchie
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 …
#religion
Proton Decay and the Resurrection of Jesus -- Rare Events
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 …
#religion
