My name is David and I am trying to be the Graceful Atheist.
After twenty some odd years of being a Christian my faith broke down in 2015. I could no longer sustain belief. It seemed to me the deeper I dug for truth in my beliefs the shakier they became. In contrast, the deeper I dug for truth in science the more profound it became.
Having had faith I still respect and care for those who remain in their faith. Having lost it I am interested in finding evidence based truth. I want to discover and communicate the subtleties of why some believe, some do not and some change their minds.

Brian Blais: Bayes vs Apologetics – Graceful Atheist Podcast
My guest this week is Brian Blais, professor at Bryant University and IBNS, Brown University. He is the author of A Measure of Faith – Probability in Religious Thought and Statistical Inference For Everyone. Brian is an expert in Bayes’ Theorem and how it applies to philosophy, theology, and apologetics.
In this episode, I take the restraints off myself and express the reasons why I think apologetics is faulty. Brian is the perfect guest for this. We bounce ideas off one another to articulate good epistemology. We discuss how mathematics and Bayes can be abused by injecting unstated information which changes the probabilities and ultimately the conclusions one comes to.
We also discuss how beliefs have consequences. The current rash of conspiracy theories has had real-world effects. Brian explains how decision theory can be used to make difficult choices.
Links
Brian’s website
https://bblais.github.io/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/bblais
Statistical Inference For Everyone (Free Version)
https://bblais.github.io/posts/2019/Jan/14/stats-for-everyone/
Amazon Version
https://amzn.to/2O2onzQ
A Measure of Faith: Probability in Religious Thought
https://amzn.to/37QzEKt
Bayes’ Theorem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem
The Monty Hall Problem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem
Interact
Full Show Notes
https://gracefulatheist.com/2021/02/28/brian-blais-bayes-vs-apologetics/
Deconversion How To
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/
Critique of Apologetics
https://gracefulatheist.com/critique-of-apologetics/
Apologetics Epistemology and Moving On
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/10/02/apologetics-epistemology-and-moving-on/
Previous episodes referred to in this episode
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/10/04/randal-rauser-conversation-with-my-inner-atheist/
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/11/01/ian-mills-new-testament-review/
https://gracefulatheist.com/2020/11/15/barrett-evans-the-contemplative-skeptic/
Attribution
Transition Music and Dawg Biscuits on the moon
John Monson and the Brothers Galaxy
"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Makaih_Beats
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/
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