Return of the Sex Police: A Renewed Abuse of Science to Outlaw Porn
A few years ago The Washington Post published a ridiculous propaganda piece by anti-porn activist (and feminist sociology professor) Gail Dines, “Is Porn Immoral? That Doesn’t Matter: It’s a Public Health Crisis,” tagline, “The science is now beyond...The Latest Proposal for a Probability of Abiogenesis
A new, peer reviewed scientific paper has been published that attempts to calculate an actual rate of abiogenesis on cosmic scales, “Emergence of Life in an Inflationary Universe” by Tomonori Totani, in Scientific Reports 10 (2020). It is pretty good, but...There Are No Undesigned Coincidences: The Bible’s Authors Are Simply Changing Up Their Sources
Years ago Christian apologist Lydia McGrew resurrected a long dead argument in Biblical studies, called the Argument from Undesigned Coincidences, particularly in her book Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts. The gist is that we can...PragerU to The Internet: Science Proves God, You Pinko Commies!
PragerU claims in multiple conservative propaganda videos that science has proved God exists and atheists should just go stuff it already. I’ll tackle this nonsense today—just to be useful, since most of PragerU’s critiques online target its lies,...How I’d Answer the PhilPapers Survey
One of the most interesting and useful things Phil Papers did was conduct a massive survey of professors and PhDs in philosophy. I will here provide how I’d have answered on that survey myself, and compare it to all respondents with PhDs in philosophy, and the...Study How to Critically Assess Claims about History with Me!
Want to know how historians vet claims, and how we tell the difference between true and false, probable and improbable? Have some challenges in this regard to pose to me? This is the course for you! Details on how to register and take the course are below. (I also...Bayesian Statistics vs. Bayesian Epistemology
I often encounter people who confuse “Bayesian statistics” with “Bayesian epistemology” or even just “Bayesian reasoning.” I’ll get critics writing me who will assert things like “Bayesian statistics can’t be used...Why Did Mark Invent an Empty Tomb?
I have written on this question in many different places. Here I collect excerpts from, or summarize, several of the most important. You’ll find further material and expanded arguments, with evidence and footnotes and cited scholarship, in my contributions to The...Come See Marketing the Messiah!
I’m one of several luminaries interviewed for this new, amusing, and fascinating documentary about the origins and development of Christianity and how much it was about marketing different fictional versions of the Christ (whether Jesus existed or not). Details...Dumb Vegan Propaganda: A Lesson in Critical Thinking
I noticed some fake news spreading on Facebook last week. Like usual. But then I noticed what a great example it provided of how to defend yourself against just this kind of politicized fake news, with just a few basic principles of critical thinking. This time the...No, Mr. Christian, A.N. Sherwin-White Didn’t Say That. And Even What He Did Say Was Wrong.
You might have heard this one before, but it bears a revisit. Once long ago William Lane Craig started using the argument that a mainstream historian in the early 1960s named A.N. Sherwin-White had demonstrated (in Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, pp....Pascal’s Wager and the Ad Baculum Fallacy
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pascal’s Wager. The gist of it is that if you bet on there being a God (meaning, to Pascal, the Medieval Catholic God), you have an infinite expected return on investment, because at worst it costs you nothing (or at...Tips for Debate: How to Be More Effective Engaging with Demagogues & Dogmatists
Here I’ve collected a variety of general tips you may find useful for debating, whether you are doing a live formal debate, a formal written debate, or anything more informal online. It’s not a comprehensive tutorial. Just some of the first things you...Study the Science & Philosophy of Free Will with Me!
Do we have free will? In what sense? What sort of free will are we supposed to be talking about? Who or what is a will a will of? What are praise and blame, guilt and innocence for? What is fatalism and why is it bad for you? Challenge yourself by studying these...Join Me in Florida Next Week!
I’ll be at Old Man Frank’s in Winter Haven, Florida (1005 South Lake Howard Drive) from 3 to 4pm (I might stay longer if there’s demand) next Saturday, February 1—with books and conversation! Come stop by, hang out, chat on any subject, maybe...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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