jjthrash / a-measure-of-faith

An exploration of probability theory applied to religious thought.

A Measure of Faith - Probability in Religious Thought

This book is written to address the role that the mathematics of probability can play when applied to topics in religion. Specifically, we have found that there are two primary purposes of this approach:

1. Bring clarity to other similar treatments of these topics. The mathematics of probability have, unfortunately, been used to give the veneer of authority and objectivity to an argument that is not well supported. This is typically done by sneaking, possibly inadvertently, a bad assumption into an otherwise correct analysis. Understanding the structure of the mathematics can help in correcting this.
2. Bring concreteness and lucidity to more verbose and murky approaches. When talking about terms like faith, miracles, and evidence the mathematics forces the analysis to be both specific and complete, while at the same time having the benefit of the reducing the number of symbols used in the description. Thus, there is an economy of words which is achieved. Pages of philosophical exposition can often be summarized by a few equations. This makes it much easier to explore special cases, and to see where analogies are successful and where they fail. This process gives the reader the ability to see connections between concepts, even when they seem opposed.

Who is this for?

Although we intend this book to be technical, we do not want to scare away those that are less mathematical. In fact, we would consider it a success if someone who is not particularly inclined in the mathematical arts would be able to get a new appreciation for these topics upon reading this book. Therefore, we will try to limit the technical aspects to that which is only absolutely necessary, and rely heavily on specific examples at all times.