Bayes’ Theorem has been used to argue for the existence of God
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BUT NOT BY BAYES
The most important formula in data science was first used to prove the existence of God by Dan Kopf
Richard Price, Bayes’ theorem, and God by Martyn Hooper
Who is Richard Price? According to our former Prof Stephen Stigler “Roughly half of Bayes’s famous essay was written by Richard Price, including the Appendix with all of the numerical examples.”
Richard Price, the First Bayesian by Stephen Stigler
It is important to note what Chris Wiggins points out
In reviewing the history of Bayes’s theorem and theology, one might wonder what Reverend Bayes had to say about this, and whether Bayes introduced his theorem as part of a similar argument for the existence of God. But the good reverend said nothing on the subject, and his theorem was introduced posthumously as part of his solution to predicting the probability of an event given specific conditions. In fact, while there is plenty of material on lotteries and hyperbolic logarithms, there is no mention of God in Bayes’s “Essay towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances,” presented after his death to the Royal Society of London in 1763
That is, people have used Bayes Theorem to argue for the existence of God, buy Reverend Bayes was not one of them.
