If Even Hobbits Could Build Advanced Civilizations, So Could Women: How Being Bad at Reasoning Sustains Antifeminist Mythologies
I dare the manosphere to mock Tolkien! “Hobbits are stupid and should be erased from Lord of the Rings because they’re too weak to build things, so obviously they’d have actually all starved to death or something.” Hobbits are way too woke to...AI Is Garbage and a Bubble (Please Learn This)
There is no AI. What is being called artificial intelligence and sold as snake oil under that label is actually artificial stupidity. It will destroy your own personal ability to critically reason. It will destroy your company—by reducing, not increasing,...My Monthly Recommendation: From Catapults to Computers, Excellent Gifts for the Avid Intellectual Reader!
I’ve decided this month to talk about my three favorite books in ancient science. And they may surprise you! They actually cross into many different subjects that will fascinate any avid reader of history, science, or nonfiction generally. So they would make...From Homer to Frontinus: Biased Translation Is Not Unique to Biblical Studies
I am often asked what the best Bible translation is. My usual reply is that there aren’t any. All translations are biased, they merely differ as to how or where. The best you can do is to read it in the original language (and I teach a course with a lecture on...Twelve Books at Herculaneum That Could Change History
There is a fabulous ancient treasure still buried at Herculaneum in the Bay of Naples. It is an actual ancient library that has been locked under a veritable rock of volcanic ash since 79 A.D. It likely contains thousands of scrolls, comprising hundreds of books. As...Bayesian Analysis of Shelley Park’s Uncanniness Thesis
Last month I launched my three-part series on analyzing peer-reviewed philosophy papers with my Bayesian Analysis of Faria Costa’s Theory of Group Agency, where I explain my process and how I selected the articles for review. Second up is “Uncomfortably...What Exactly Was the Scientific Revolution?
The “Scientific Revolution” is often mentioned and discussed as a crucial development in human civilization that fundamentally changed the entire course of history. World society after and before that event looks consistently yet radically different. For...Is Society Going to Collapse in 20 Years?
There is much discussion of late (typically gullible) of a recent article claiming that a 1972 prediction of the collapse of civilization between 2040 and 2070 from “MIT” is “on track.” This is scam logic that needs to be called...UFOs Are Not That Remarkable
Sometime toward the end of this month the military will release a report on UFOs; unless an extension is granted, but even if one is—I’m sure it’s time-consuming work—I expect the report will be delivered before end of year. Some of it, I...How Not to Live in Zardoz
So. You know. Zardoz. That dystopian 70s movie everyone hates because it’s so fucking weird. “It depicts,” as Wikipedia describes it, “a post apocalyptic world where barbarians worship a stone god called ‘Zardoz’ that grants them...Join My Course on Ancient Science & Technology and Learn All You Didn’t Know about Greco-Roman Advancement & How Christianity Put an End to It!
Based on Richard Carrier’s Columbia University dissertation and now published as a book, this course will astound you with what ancient scientists thought and accomplished and how they laid the groundwork for modern science, to be recovered and built upon only after a...Yes, the Dark Ages Really Were a Thing
There is a trend to try and deny the Dark Ages ever existed; even to portray them as really lovely, light and wonderful ages of goodness and achievement. I’m exaggerating. But only a little. I’ve debunked this a lot. I have a whole category assigned to the...
The Shocking Reasons Why We Should Go Nuclear
I once wrote about how we aren’t really doomed, per se. Things could get bad, even really bad, owing to climate change and irrational energy and environmental policies, even economic crashes, even war, even worldwide NBC war. But it won’t be an apocalypse....Fantastic Study of Gender Differences Finds White Privilege Instead
This is one of the most excellent must read articles ever sent to me (by a girlfriend who does this sort of thing for a living. You know who you are, Girl. Thank you!) I’m talking about David Roberts, “There’s a Gender Divide on Nuclear Power, but It...Forgotten Books
I’ve just been given membership to an online research site that you might want to join, too. It’s called Forgotten Books, an online warehouse of over a million books dating back to the 1500s, and all the way up to the 1940s, all image-over-text editions,...Get Dr. Carrier’s Latest!
About the Author
Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to Poland. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism and humanism, and the origins of Christianity and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, with particular expertise in ancient philosophy, science and technology. He is also a noted defender of scientific and moral realism, Bayesian reasoning, and historical methods.
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