Nick Byrd Ph.D.

About

Nick Byrd, Ph.D., is a philosopher-scientist studying good and bad reasoning habits and how they influence our judgments, decisions, and well-being. Dr. Byrd’s primary goal is to better understand and—where possible—improve human decision-making. Some of their research questions include,

How are our evaluations of arguments and evidence biased?
How do our biases relate to our philosophical beliefs about morality, politics, religion, etc.?
How does our sense of identity bias our reasoning, for better or worse?
How do our biases impact our and others' well-being?
How can we debias each others' reasoning, judgments, and behavior?
How might technology help us create, reinforce, or overcome bias?

After studying cognitive science, philosophy, and religion at Palm Beach Atlantic University, University of Colorado, and Florida State University, they completed a Ph.D. in 2020. Their research has been funded by institutions like the US Intelligence Community, the John Templeton Foundation, and various universities. You can follow Byrd and colleagues' research on Google Scholar, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Recent Posts

Why Does Size Matter in Large Language Models?

Do large language models need to be so large? Perhaps not. Smaller models have outperformed much larger models when using a certain reasoning strategy.

Unity and Division on the Internet

We should not let our biases cloud our judgment of the Internet's costs and benefits.

Justice, Nationalism, Christianity, and Race

Should our country's needs come before greater needs in other countries? Christian leaders like Dr. King had a view, but some Christians disagreed. They also disagreed about race.

Belief Bias, Polarization, and Potential Solutions

Our prior beliefs can trick us into misinterpreting arguments and evidence. Here's why it matters and what we may be able to do about it.

Can We Estimate Our Own Ability to Reason?

Various studies have found a disconnect between self-reported and behavioral measures of reasoning habits.

Bias: What Is It? And When Is It Bad?

Some biases are uncontroversially bad, while others are mundane or beneficial. However, discerning the difference is more complicated than many people seem to think.