Nick Byrd

EMPLOYMENT

2021 – present | Stevens Institute of Technology

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Affiliate Faculty for the Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Affiliate Faculty of Quantitative Social Science

EDUCATION

Postdoc., Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program (2020 – 2023). IC Advisor: Steven Rieber (IARPA)

Stevens Institute of Technology (2021 – 2023). Research Advisor: Ashley Lytle (Psychology)

Carnegie Mellon University (2020 – 2021). Research Advisor: Simon Cullen (Philosophy)

Ph.D., Philosophy, Florida State University, 2020

Dissertation: “Reflective Reasoning For Real People” [Video abstract]

GradCert, Preparing Future Professionals, Florida State University, 2019

(24 graduate-level credits from the Psychology Dept.)

M.A., Philosophy, University of Colorado Boulder, 2014

Thesis: “Intuitive and Reflective Responses in Philosophy” (Advisor: Michael Huemer)

GradCert, Cognitive Science, University of Colorado, 2013 (18 graduate-level credits)

B.A., Philosophy, Palm Beach Atlantic University, 2009

Thesis: “Persons and Their Unique Spatio-temporal Vantage Points” (Advisor: Craig Hanson)

NCAA Division II Cross Country Team

SPECIALIZATION & COMPETENCE

Specializations | Cognitive Science, Research Methods, Cognitive and Social Psychology, Experimental Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science

Competence | Logic, History of Science, Metaphysics, Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion

SKILLS

Data Analysis | RStudio (primary), Jamovi (secondary), SPSS (as needed)

Methods | Experiments (in-person and online, individual and interactive—e.g., with oTree), Think Aloud Protocol Analysis (in-person and online), Text annotation and analysis, Surveys

Coding | R (primary), Python (as needed), Unix (as needed), HTML (as needed), CSS (as needed)

Tools | mTurk, CloudResearch, Prolific, Sona, Qualtrics, Phonic.ai, Voiceform

Web CMS | WordPress (primary), Google Sites (for no-budget projects)

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

2023 | with Miroslav Sirota, Gabriella Gongora, and Brianna Joseph. “Tell Us What You Really Think: A think-aloud protocol analysis of the verbal Cognitive Reflection Test”. Journal of Intelligence 11(4) DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence11040076 [Pre-review preprint] [Audiopaper] [Video presentation] [Altmetric]

2023 | “Great Minds Do Not Think Alike: Philosophers’ Views Predicted By Reflection, Education, Personality, And Other Demographic Differences”. Review of Philosophy & Psychology. DOI: 10.1007/s13164-022-00628-y [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2022 | with Morgan Thompson. “Testing for Implicit Bias: Values, Psychometrics, and Science Communication”. WIRES Cognitive Science. DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1612 [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2022 | “Bounded Reflectivism & Epistemic identity”. Metaphilosophy. DOI: 10.1111/meta.12534 [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2021 | “Reflective Reasoning & Philosophy”. Philosophy Compass. DOI: 10.1111/phc3.12786 [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2021 | with Michał Białek. “Your Health vs. My Liberties: Philosophical beliefs dominated reflection and identifiable victim effects when predicting public health recommendation compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic”. Cognition. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104649 [OSF] [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Video abstract] [Altmetric]

2021 | with John Schwenkler, Enoch Lambert, and Matthew Taylor. “One — but Not the Same” Philosophical Studies. DOI: 10.1007/s11098-021-01739-5 [OSF] [Preprint] [Altmetric]

2021 | “On Second Thought, Libet-style Unreflective Intentions May Be Compatible With Free Will”. Logoirevistasenlinea.saber.ucab.edu.ve/…/logoi/…/5025 [Preprint] [Audiopaper]

2021 | “Online Conferences: Some History, Methods, and Benefits”. In Right Research: Modelling Sustainable Research Practices in the Anthropocene (Open Book Publishers). DOI: 10.11647/obp.0213.28 [OSF] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2020 | “A Causal Network Account of Ill-being: Depression and digital wellbeing”. In Burr, C. & Floridi, : (Eds.) Ethics of Digital Well-Being: A Multidisciplinary Approach. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50585-1_11 [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2019 | with Paul Conway. “Not All Who Ponder Count Costs: Arithmetic Reflection Predicts Utilitarian Tendencies, but Logical Reflection Predicts both Deontological and Utilitarian Tendencies”. Cognition. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.06.007 [OSF] [Preprint] [Preprint + data + scripts] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

2019 | “What We Can (And Can’t) Infer About Implicit Bias From Debiasing Experiments”. Synthese. DOI: 10.1007/s11229-019-02128-6 [Preprint] [Audiopaper] [Altmetric]

PUBLICATIONS SUPPORTED (e.g., as Analyst, Forecaster)

2023 | Schaerer, M., du Plessis, C., Nguyen, M. H. B., van Aert, R. C. M., Tiokhin, L., Lakens, D., Giulia Clemente, E., Pfeiffer, T., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Clark, C. J., & Luis Uhlmann, E. (2023). On the trajectory of discrimination: A meta-analysis and forecasting survey capturing 44 years of field experiments on gender and hiring decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 179, 104280. DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2023.104280

2023 | Karger, E., Rosenberg, J., Jacobs, Z., Hickman, M., Hadshar, R., Gamin, K., Smith, T., Williams, B., McCaslin, T., & Tetlock, P.E. Forecasting Existential Risks: Evidence from a Long-Run Forecasting Tournament. Forecasting Research Institute. forecastingresearch.org/xpt

2022 | Delios, A., Wu, T., Tan, H., Wang, Y., Viganola, D., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Pfeiffer, T., & Uhlmann, E.L. Examining the context sensitivity of research findings from archival data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(30), e2120377119. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120377119.

2020 | Tierney, W., Hardy, J. H., Ebersole, C. R., Leavitt, K., Viganola, D., Clemente, E. G., Gordon, M., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Pfeiffer, T., & Uhlmann, E. L.. Creative destruction in science. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 161, 291–309. DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.07.002.

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

“Reflection-Philosophy Order Effects and Correlations: Aggregating and comparing results from mTurk, CloudResearch, Prolific, and undergraduate samples”. [Preprint]

with Samantha Wakil and Jack Justus. “[Experiments On ‘Simplest’ Explanations and Base Rate Neglect]”.

“[Explicating The Concept of Reflection]”.

“All Measures Are Not Created Equal: Reflection, verbal reports, and process dissociation”. (Revisions requested)

with Nathan Biebel. “Forget and Forgive? How excuses impact blame for ordinary forgetfulness”.

MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION

Article | with Simon Cullen and Daniel Oppenheimer. “Map My Words: Closing Partisan Gaps In Policy Evaluation With Argument Maps”.

Article | with Simon Cullen and Philipp Chapkovski. “Experiments In Reflective Equilibrium Using The Socrates Platform”.

Article | with Simon Cullen and Shamik Dasgupta. “[Essentialism About Nations]”.

Article | with Justin Sytsma. “Reflective Disequilibrium Across Countries and Religions”.

Article | with Justin Sytsma, Jonathan Livengood, and David Yaden “The Psychology of Philosophy, Revisited”.

Article | with Caleb Reynolds and Paul Conway. “Trait reflectiveness and responses to moral dilemmas: A meta-analytic process dissociation approach”.

WORKING PAPERS

“Willpower Science: Conjecture, Confirmation, Crisis, and Causal Networks”.

“Justifying The Inference From Predictive Success To Realism: A Growing Burden” [RG]

“Apparent Intuitions About Coin Tosses: A Reply To Maher and Lange” [RG]

“Do Philosophers Appeal To Intuition? A Computational Corpus Linguistics Approach” [RG]

“Convergence Without Reasoning: Making Sense of Sidgwickian ‘Reflective Persons'” [RG]

“The Roles of Extrinsic & Constitutive Reasons In Cognitive Therapy”

“Cartesian Embodied Conation”

“Aristotle’s Prohairesis In Action”

Different Never To Have Been: Existence And Non-Existence Are Incommensurable”

“Can A Four-Dimensionalist Evade The Non-identity Problem?”

“The Imperative of Integrating US Regions and Households” [RG]

“Why Rawls Should Be A Cosmopolitan Egalitarian”

“If Vantage Points Are Properties of Persons”

Short Introductions to (Some) Philosophy: A Free eReader

GRANTS

2022 – 2024 | “Religiosity & Reflection Across Cultures”. Experimental Philosophy of Religion. John Templeton Foundation: 61886-3. Co-PIs: Steve Stich, Justin Sytsma. ($246,403)

2024 | “Testing higher education curricula with waitlist control trials”. Teaching and Learning Fellowship. Stevens Institute of Technology. ($1500)

2022 – 2023 | “Conscious Reflection Under Stress”. Fund Consciousness Research. Templeton World Charity Foundation: 0495. Co-PI: Kalina Michalska ($22,287.48)

2020 – 2023 | “Reducing Belief-Driven Thinking”. Intelligence Community Research Program. U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence and U.S. Department of Energy: ICPD-2020-13. Advised by Simon Cullen, Ashley Lytle, and Steve Rieber. ($297,000)

2021 – 2022 | “A Beginner’s Guide to Neural Mechanism”. Duke SSNAP via Templeton World Charity Foundation: 48365. Co-PIs: Fabrizio Calzavarini, Zina Ward. ($30,000)

2021 – 2022 | “No Need To Go It Alone: Ecologically Valid Studies of Group Reasoning”. Duke SSNAP via Templeton World Charity Foundation: 48365. Co-PIs: Daina Crafa, Shadab Tabatabaeian, Austin Baker, Trey Boone. ($8,000)

2021 – 2022 | “Scaling Up Reflection, Discussion, and Decision Making Research with CloudResearch and the Socrates Platform”. Co-PIs: Simon Cullen and Philipp Chapkovski. ($2500)

2019 – 2020 | Adelaide Wilson Fellowship, Florida State University’s Graduate School, ($32,000)

2018 – 2019 | Graduate Student Cross-training Fellowship. Society for Christian Philosophers. John Templeton Foundation. ($32,000)

2014 – 2018| Conference Travel Grants, Department of Philosophy, Florida State University ($2160)

2014 – 2018 | Conference Travel Grants, Congress of Graduate Students, Florida State University ($1700)

2019 | Graduate Student Travel Stipend, American Philosophical Association ($300)

2015 | Conference Travel Grant, Abraham Kuyper Center for Science & Religion, Vrije Universiteit (€200)

2015 | Travel Bursary, Institut De Recherches Cliniques De Montreal ($350)

2015 | Travel Grant, History & Philosophy of Science, Florida State University ($200)

2013 – 2014 | Conference Grants, Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado, ($1250)

2013 | Research Grant, Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, ($300)

GRANT APPLICATIONS

Under review | “Talk It Out – Tracing and Triggering Real-world Reflection to Understand and Optimize Reflective Decision-making”

In. prep. | with John Medaglia. “Conscious Reflection, Metacognition, & Philosophy”.

In prep. | with Edgar Filip Rozycki. “Ritual: Lost in thought or loss of thought?” Multi-year, multi-site study of correlational and causal relationships between culture, reflection, and ritual.

AWARDS

2023 | Winner – Early-Career Joint Neurophilosophy-Talks Competition: (co-presented with Ivano Triggiani) “The posterior alpha rhythm as a railroad switcher for the dorsoventral path” ​

2022 | Semi-finalist – 2022 ORISE Ignite Off

2022 | Best Poster finalist – Advances in Decision Analysis conference

20201 | Summer Seminar in Neuroscience and Philosophy (SSNAP) Fellowship (Travel, lodging, $1000 honorarium, and potential grant funding—above).

2019 | 1st Place in Poster Presentation Competition – Arts and Humanities Category ($150), Conference of Florida Graduate Schools

2019 | Graduate Student Research and Creativity Award ($1,000), Florida State University Graduate School

2018 | Dissertation Research Grant ($1000), Florida State University Graduate School

2009 | Outstanding Graduate of Philosophy Award, Palm Beach Atlantic University

CONSULTING

2022 | About how to use educational entertainment to educate children about well-being and cognitive science. Renée Crown Wellness Institute
University of Colorado Boulder. PI: Samuel Hubley.

2021 | About how to encourage and measure reflective reasoning for John Templeton Funded grant “Humble Self-reliance in Reasoning and Belief: The Mutually Supportive Relationship Between Epistemic Autonomy and Intellectual Humility”. PIs: James Beebe, Jonathan Matheson, and Joshua Wilt.

2021 | About testing whether philosophy coursework improves critical thinking abilities. Thomas Metcalf. Spring Hill College Philosophy Department.

REFEREED PRESENTATIONS

“Experiments In Reflective Equilibrium Using The Socrates Platform”

2022 | Reflection on intelligent systems (IRIS): Towards a cross-disciplinary definition. University of Stuttgart. Virtual

“How Can People Overcome Biased Judgments?”

2023 | Geisinger College of Health Sciences. Department of Bioethics and Decision Sciences. Danville, PA.

2023 | Intelligence Community Tech Week. MITRE. McLean, VA. [25-minute recording]

2022 | Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Ignite Off! competition. Virtual. [5-minute recording]

“Reflection-Philosophy Order Effects and Correlations: …Comparing Crowd Workers and Undergraduates”

2023 | London Reasoning Workshop (LRW). University of Greenwich (and online).

2022 | Advances in Decision Analysis Conference. Arlington, VA.

“Vetting Theoretical Virtues: Parsimony and the Framing Effect”

2022 | Philosophy of Science Association conference. Pittsburgh.

2021 | Philosophy of Science Association conference. Baltimore.

“Tell Us What You Really Think: A think aloud protocol analysis of the verbal cognitive reflection test”

2022 | Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). (Virtual)

2022 | Society for Judgment and Decision-making (SJDM). (Virtual)

2021 | Cognitive Research Group. University of Surrey. (Virtual)

2021 | Behavioral Research Online (BeOnline). (Virtual)

2021 | Association For Psychological Science. (Virtual)

“Your Health vs. My Liberty: Philosophical beliefs dominated reflection and identifiable victim effects when predicting public health recommendation compliance”

2021 | 1st Conference on the Impacts of Covid-19 (#WPRN21). (Virtual)

2021 | Center for Informed Democracy and Society (IDeaS) Conference. (Virtual)

2021 | Society for Personality and Social Psychology. (Virtual)

2021 | Society for Philosophy and Psychology. (Virtual)

2021 | Georgia Philosophical Society. (Virtual)

2021 | American Psychology Association: Society for Psych. Study of Social Issues program. (Virtual)

“Great Minds Do Not Think Alike: Psychological Factors
Predict Philosophers’ Views”

2021 | Association for Personality Research (ARP). (Virtual)

2021 | 9th International Conference on Thinking. (Virtual)

2021 | 25th Congress of the German Society for Philosophy. (Virtual)

2020 | Southern Society for Philosophy & Psychology. Louisville. (Virtual)

2019 | Florida Philosophical Society Conference. Gainesville.

2019 | Alabama Philosophical Society Conference. Pensacola.

2019 | Conference of Florida Graduate Schools. Miami.

2018 | International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion Conference. Boston.

2015 | Workshop: Explaining Religion. Cognitive Science of Religion and Naturalism. Amsterdam.

2015 | Buffalo Experimental Philosophy Conference. Buffalo.

2013 | 4th Annual Workshop on Experimental Philosophy. Bristol.

“Implicit Bias: Advancing The Debate” 

2019 | Eastern APA. New York City.

2017 | 63rd Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Society. Ocala.

2017 | 109th Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy & Psychology. Savannah.

2015 | 107th Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy & Psychology. New Orleans.

2015 | Midsouth Philosophy Conference. Memphis.

“Not All Who Ponder Count Costs: Reflection & Sacrificial Dilemma Judgments Revisited”

2020 | 29th Annual International Conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Atlanta.

2019 | Society for Philosophy & Psychology. San Diego.

2018 | Australasian Society for Philosophy & Psychology. Sydney.

“Bounded Reflectivism & Epistemic Identity”

2020 | 12th Conference of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation. Windsor. (Canceled)

2018 | Southeastern Epistemology Conference. Miami.

“A Causal Network Account Of Ill-Being” [RG]

2021 | Life Improvement Science Conference. Virtual.

2018 | Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Ann Arbor. (Unable to attend)

2016 | Society for the Metaphysics of Science Conference. Geneva.

2015 | Montreal Neuroethics Conference for Young Researchers. Montreal.

2015 | Mississippi Academy of Science, Division of History and Philosophy of Science Conference. Hattiesburg.

“What Can the Selfish Goal Model Do for The Belief-Desire-Intention Model?” [RG]

2013 | Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Conference. Bristol.

“Philosophers’ Brains: What Can Neuroscience Tell Us About Philosophical Judgment?” [RG]

2012 | InterMountain Philosophy Conference. University of Utah. Salt Lake City.

2012 | Towards a Science of Consciousness Conference. Tuscon.

INVITED TALKS

2024 | “Panel Discussion: Perspectives from IC Postdoctoral Fellows”. Intelligence Community Postdoc. Recruitment and Information Fair. January 18.

2023 | “How are reflective and philosophical thinking related?” Stevens Institute of Technology. Humanities Forum. November 15. [Video] [Slides]

2023 | “Critical Thinking With Generative AI (ChatGPT, Bard, etc.) and Argument Maps” Stevens Institute of Technology. August 9.

2023 | “Reflection Experiments: How did writing, thinking aloud, thought experimenting, argument mapping, and peer discussion impact critical thinking?” Educational Research Symposium. Stevens Institute of Technology. June 13.

2023 | “Tell Us What You Really Think: A Think Aloud Protocol Analysis of the Verbal Cognitive Reflection Test”. University of Southampton’s Psychology Department (Virtual). February 24.

2022 | “Experiments In Reflective Equilibrium Using The Socrates Platform”. Innovations in Online Research Conference. CloudResearch.

2022 | “Metacognition and Applied Experimental Philosophy”. Institute Jean Nicod. Applied Cognitive Science Webinar series (Virtual). June 16.

2022 | “From Candidacy to the Tenure Track”. Florida State University Department of Philosophy (Virtual). February 1.

2021 | “Bounded Reflectivism & Epistemic Identity”. University of Arizona Department of Philosophy Colloquium (Virtual). October 29

2021 | “Map My Words: Closing Partisan Gaps With Argument Maps And More”.

2021 | “The Role of Reflection in Philosophy”. Lake Forest University (Virtual). April 29

2021 | “Reflection in Decision Science & Philosophy: Order Effects, Discussion Effects, and Correlations In Multiple Samples”. CBDR Seminar. Carnegie Mellon University (Virtual). April 15

2021 | “Tell Us What You Really Think: A think aloud protocol analysis of the verbal Cognitive Reflection Test”. SDS Seminar. Carnegie Mellon University (Virtual). April 5

2021 | “Reflection in Cognitive & Philosophical Tasks: Order Effects and Correlations Among mTurk, CloudResearch, Prolific, and Undergraduate Participants”. Pittsburgh xPhi Lab. University of Pittsburgh (Virtual). March 5

2021 | “Your Health vs. My Liberty: Philosophical beliefs dominated reflection and identifiable victim effects when predicting public health recommendation compliance”. Center for Philosophy of Science. University of Pittsburgh (Virtual). February 9 [Video]

2020 | “Depolarizing Immigration Policy With Argument Maps”. Pittsburgh xPhi Lab. University of Pittsburgh (Virtual). October 16

2020 | “Your Health vs. My Liberty: Philosophy, Reflection, and Messaging of COVID-19 Response”. Collaboration and Conflict Research Lab. Carnegie Mellon University. (Virtual)

2020 | “Great Minds Do Not Think Alike: Psychological Factors Predict Philosophers’ Views”. Research Sharing Luncheon. Florida State University. February 20

2019 | “Intuitive & Reflective Responses In Philosophy”. Research Design & Analysis, II. Department of Psychology. Florida State University.

2019 | “Not All Who Ponder Count Costs: The Science of Moral Dilemmas”. Research Sharing Luncheon. Florida State University. June 11

2019 | “Whether & How Debiasing Works: Implications for the Classroom”. The Diversity and Inclusion in Research and Teaching Organization’s (DIRECTO’s) Symposium. Florida State University. March 28th

2018 | “Partisan Reasoning: What Is It And What Can We Do About It?”. The Fellows Forum on “Fact or Fallacy: The Creation, Distribution, and Interpretation of Knowledge.” Florida State University. March 6th.

2017 | “The Why & How of Personal Websites & Academic Social Media Profiles“. Philosophy Department. Florida State University.

2016 | “Reflection & Moral Reasoning”. Moral and Social Processing Lab. Florida State University.

2016 | “Reflection, Philosophical Training, & Theism”. Moral and Social Processing Lab. Florida State University.

2014 | “Human Experimentation Is The New Conceptual Analysis: A Dummy’s Guide To The IRB Process at CU Boulder”. Graduate Teacher Workshop. University of Colorado, Boulder.

COMMENTARIES

2021 | with Paul Conway. Comment on [Winking J and Koster J, PLoS ONE 2021 16(4):e0249345]. In Faculty Opinions, 23 April; DOI: 10.3410/f.739880448.793584533

2021 | with Paul Conway. Comment on [Luke DM and Gawronski B, Pers Soc Psychol Bull Feb 2021]. In Faculty Opinions, 01 April; DOI: 10.3410/f.739605137.793583900

2021 | with Paul Conway. Comment on [Jaquet F and Cova F, Cognition 2021 209:104572]. In Faculty Opinions, 04 March; DOI: 10.3410/f.739314942.793583048

2021 | with Paul Conway. Comment on [Li S et al., Healthcare (Basel) 2020 8(4)]. In Faculty Opinions, 02 March; DOI: 10.3410/f.739120383.793583047

2017 | “Can Domain-familiarity Account for Puzzling Responses on the Cognitive Reflection Test?” Comment on Shea and Frith’s ‘Type 0 Cognition…’“. Brains Blog Roundtable

2017 | “Associative and non-associative changes in implicit bias” Comments on “Lai et al’s ‘Meta-Analysis of Change In Implicit Bias“. Brains Blog Roundtable

2015 | “Synchronic vs. Diachronic Belief Formation: Comments on Moon and Boyce’s ‘Proper Functionalism…’” Midsouth Philosophy Conference. Rhodes College, Memphis

2013 | “Are theists intuitions faulty?” Comments on Church and Barrett’s “Can CSR Give Atheists Epistemic Assurance?” SCP’s Mountain-Pacific Region Conference: Faith and Reason. University of Colorado, Boulder

INVITED WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION

2023 | AI Forward: Trustworthy AI Theory, Engineering, and Human Context. DARPA. June 13-16. Virtual.

2023 | REASON Program Proposer’s Day. IARPA. January 11.

2022 | Fund Consciousness Science! Templeton World Charity Fdn. March 24-26.

2021 | Corpus Linguistics in Philosophy (CoLiPhi21), U. Zurich. June 10-11. Virtual

20201 | Summer Seminar in Neuroscience and Philosophy. TWCF, Duke U. May 18 – June 5. Virtual

2018 | Social Science: Epistemological Foundations and Methodological Debates, Institue for Humane Studies, Florida State U. August 25.

2018 | Winter School on Bounded Rationality, TAPMI. Jan 8-14. (Flights canceled by Winter Storm Grayson)

2017 | Philosophy & Physical Computing Summer School, NSF, VA.  Tech. June 19 – July 2.

2015 | Explaining Religion: Cognitive Science of Religion and Naturalism, Vrije U. Dec 4-5.

MEDIA COVERAGE

2024 | “Dr. Nick Byrd: How AI Is Disrupting Our Industry, and What We Can Do About It“. Authority Magazine. Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti.

2023 | “A Humanistic View Of Artificial Intelligence”. Forbes. Eli Amdur.

2023 | “Microsoft’s Bold Claims of AI ‘Human Reasoning’ Shot Down By Experts“. Lifewire. Sascha Brodsky.

2022 | “Philosopher develops app to research belief-driven polarization and conflict“. What’s it like Being an ORISE STEM Researcher? Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

2021 | “The College of Arts and Letters Welcomes Nick Byrd to its Faculty“. Stevens Institute of Technology News.

2020 | “What We Can (And Can’t) Infer About Implicit Bias From Debiasing Experiments“. Faculti. [free version]

2019 | “Making sense of morality: FSU researchers advance the study of ethical decision-making“. Florida State University News.

2019 | “Making sense of morality: FSU researchers advance the study of ethical decision-making“. Florida State Headlines. WFSU Media (NPR, PBS, and more)

2017 | “APA Member Interview: Nick Byrd” (March 17). Blog of the APA. Interviewer: Skye Cleary.

2016 | “ACI Interview with Scholarly Blogger & PhD Candidate Nick Byrd“. (April 27). ACI Scholarly Blog Index. Interviewer: Traci Hector.

2015 | “Researchers Wrestle with Co-Authorship.” Nature 528(11). Dalmeet Singh Chawla.

PUBLIC WRITING

2024 | “Why Does Size Matter in Large Language Models?” (January 3). Upon Reflection (Blog). Psychology Today.

2023 | “Unity and Division on the Internet: The Internet doesn’t divide people; people divide people.” (May 4). Upon Reflection (Blog). Psychology Today.

2023 | “Is ChatGPT Going to Eat (or Save) the World?” (January 19). Stevens Institute of Technology’s Research & Innovation column.

2022 | Justice, Nationalism, Christianity, and Race (January 17). Upon Reflection (Blog). Psychology Today.

2021 | Belief Bias, Polarization, and Potential Solutions (December 25). Upon Reflection (Blog). Psychology Today.

2021 | Can We Estimate Our Own Ability to Reason? (April 17). Upon Reflection (Blog). Psychology Today.

2021 | Bias: What is It? When Is It Bad? (April 17). Upon Reflection (Blog). Psychology Today.

2021 | Not Just Online Conferences: Online Workshops, Seminars, Colloquia, etc. (March 9). In the Online Conference Symposia at The Brains Blog.

2020 | The Moral Tradeoffs of Public Health (September 9). Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

2019 | Syllabus Showcase: Nick Byrd, Introduction to Philosophy (October 16). Blog of the APA.

2019 | Eliminating Footnotes Makes Philosophy More Accessible (January 17). Blog of the APA.

2016 | “So You’re A Philosopher, Eh? What Do Philosophers Do?”  (February 24). Blog of the APA.

2015 | “The Future of Online Conferences in Philosophy” (with Cameron Buckner and John Schwenkler), DailyNous

INVITED PODCAST/VIDEO DISCUSSIONS

2021 | Dr. Sahar Joakim interviews Dr. Byrd on public health and personal liberty. What the COVID-19 pandemic revealed about people’s philosophy regarding morality, politics, religion, and abortion (March 4). Sahar Joakim’s YouTube channel

2020 | Reflection and Well-being during the Pandemic (August 27). In Limbo Conversations

2020 | Lessons about the academic job market from 280 applications, multiple interviews, and a few offers (March 30). YouTube

2019 | The Natalism Debate (March 30). Veracity Hill Podcast

2017 | It’s just a social construct, guys (July 29). I Can’t Believe it’s Not News Podcast

2017 | More Thoughtful – Atheists or Theists? (June 24, 2017). Veracity Hill with Kurt Jaros et al.

2016 | Is Voting for a Third Party a Wasted Vote? (Oct 1, 2016). Veracity Hill with Kurt Jaros et al.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

SP 2023 | Instructor: Ethical Issues in Science and Technology

FA 2022 | Instructor: Logic

SP 2022 | Instructor: Ethics of Business and Technology

FA 2021 | Instructor: Philosophy of Mind

SU 2018, 2019 | Instructor: Introduction to Philosophy

FA 16, 17, SP 18 | Assistant: Reasoning & Critical Thinking

SU 2017 | Co-instructor: Python Coding Workshop – Grades 3-8

SP 2017 | Assistant: Free Will & Science

SP 2015, 2016 | Assistant: Environmental Ethics

FA 2015 | Assistant: Social Justice & Diversity

FA 2014 | Assistant: Introduction to Philosophy

SP 2014, May 2014 | Assistant: Philosophy & The Sciences

SP 2014 | Assistant: History of Science: Newton to Einstein

FA 2013 | Recitation Instructor: Philosophy & The Sciences (2/week)

2012- 2013 | Apple Store Specialist: Introduction to iCloud, Getting Started with iPad, iWork Tips and Tricks

GUEST LECTURES

2017 | “Causal Claims & Arguments From Samples”, Reasoning & Critical Thinking, Florida State University

2017 | “Diagnostic Reasoning Under Uncertainty”, Reasoning & Critical Thinking, Florida State University

2017 | “The Illusion of Will”, Free Will & Science, Florida State University

2016 | “Philosophical Thinking: Fast & Slow”, Reasoning and Critical Thinking, Florida State University

2016 | “On Intrinsic and Instrumental Value”, Environmental Ethics, Florida State University

2015, 2016 | “On The Institution of Property”,  Environmental Ethics, Florida State University

2014 | “On Abortion”, Introduction to Philosophy,  Florida State University

2013 | “Against Metaphysics”, Philosophy & The Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

2013 | “The Hypothetico-Deductive Method”, Philosophy & The Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

COURSES PREPARED TO TEACH

Introductory

Critical Thinking

Ethics (Applied, Experimental, or Theoretical)

Introduction to Philosophy

Intermediate

Cognitive Science

Experimental Philosophy

Environmental Ethics

History of Science: Newton to Present

Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of Mind

Advanced or Graduate level

Cognitive Science of Religion

Dual Process Theory

Ethics of Business and Technology

Ethical Issues in Science and Technology

Logic

With Advance Notice

Causation

Epistemology

Ethics of Computer and/or Data Science

Feminist Ethics

Feminist Philosophy of Science

Introduction to Humanities

Modern Philosophy

Moral Psychology

Non-western Philosophy

Philosophy of Psychology

Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of Statistics

Political Philosophy

Political Psychology

Social and/or Personality Psychology

Positive Psychology

Well-being

ADVISING & MENTORING

Committee member for Elena Korshakova (Ph.D. Computer Science), Causal decisions (2023 – 2024)

Thesis advisor to Aaron Camacho (B.A. Philosophy), Moral self effects on self-identity (2023 – 2024)

Thesis advisor to Olivia Parlow (B.S. Science, Technology, & Society), Improving patient medication decisions (2023 – 2024)

Research Advisor to Evan Papageorge (B.S. Civil Engineering), Decision transcript annotation (2023)

Research Advisor to Megan Yim (B.S. Computer Science), Decision transcript annotation (2023)

Thesis advisor to Aswin Aguinaga (B.A. Philosophy), Thesis: “Value of Verse: Experiments About The Cognitive Value of Poetry” (2022 – 2023)

Research Advisor to Jeffrey Busold (B.S. Computer Science), Research Assistant. Decision transcript annotation (2022)

Research Advisor to Jenna Booth (B.S. Chemistry), Research Assistant. Decision transcript annotation (2022)

Ad hoc advisor to Sahana Rajan (Ph.D. Philosophy), Philosophy of Physics (2022)

Research Advisor to Brianna Joseph (B.S. Mgmt. Info. Science), Think-Aloud Protocol Analysis (2020)

Research Advisor to Gabriela Gongora (B.S. Accounting), Think-Aloud Protocol Analysis (2020)

Ad hoc advisor to Jeremy Ben (Miami Dade College), Intro. to Philosophical Psych. (2019)

Ad hoc advisor to Jermaine Tucker (B.A. English, Professional Writing), Academic Research (2019)

Ad hoc advisor to Ashley Potts (Ph.D. Philosophy), Grant Application (2019)

Ad hoc advisor to Sarah McHenry (M.B.A.), Graduate Program Applications (2017 – 2018)

Ad hoc advisor to Sierra Cortes (B.S. Biology), Med. School Applications, Publications (2015 – 2016)

GRADUATE COURSEWORK

University of Colorado

Ethics Proseminar. David Boonin, Adam Hosein, Alison Jaggar, Alistair Norcross. Grade: A-.

Metaphysics. Michael Tooley. Grade: A.

History & Philosophy of Physics. Allan Franklin (Physics). Grade: B+

Topics in Cognitive Science. University of Colorado’s Institute of Cognitive Science. Grade: A.

Philosophy of Mind. Rob Rupert. Grade: A-.

Methods in Cognitive Science. Michael Mozer (Computer Science) & Tor Wager (Neuroscience). Grade: A.

Topics in Cognitive Science. University of Colorado’s Institute of Cognitive Science. Grade: A.

Computational Corpus Linguistics. Kevin Cohen (Linguistics). Grade: A-.

General Statistics. Chick Judd & Joshua Correll (Psychology) Grade: B.

Aristotle + 17th Century Philosophy. Dan Kaufman & Mitzi Lee. Grade: A-.

Proseminar: Thinking. Matt Jones (Psychology). Grade: B+.

Florida State University

Self-knowledge. John Schwenkler. Grade: A

Self-control. Marcela Herdova & Stephen Kearns. Grade: A

Well-being. Mike Bishop. Grade: A

Self-knowledge. John Schwenkler. Grade: A

Modern Philosophy. John Roberts. Grade: A

Modern Logic. Piers Rawling. Grade: B-

Directed Individual Study: Naturalized Epistemology. Mike Bishop. Grade: Satisfactory

Kant & The History of Thought. Michael Ruse. Grade: A

Philosophy of Science. Jack Justus. Grade: A

Directed Individual Study: Aspects of Agency. Al Mele. Grade: Satisfactory

Issues in Cognitive Science. Wally Boot (Psychology). Grade: Satisfactory

Ethics Core Course. Mark Lebar. Grade: B+

Supervised Teaching. Tracie Mahaffey.Grade: Satisfactory

Causation. Marie Flemming. Grade: Satisfactory

Dispositions. Randy Clarke. Grade: Satisfactory

Directed Individual Study: Philosophy of Reflective Reasoning. Mike Bishop Grade: Satisfactory

Directed Individual Study: Science of Reflective Reasoning. John Schwenker. Grade: Satisfactory

Directed Individual Study: Intuitive vs. Reflective Reasoning. John Schwenker. Grade: Satisfactory

Directed Individual Study: Social Psychology of Morality. Paul Conway. Grade: Satisfactory

Directed Individual Study: Philosophy of Psychology. John Schwenker. Grade: Satisfactory

Cognition & Perception. Jonathan Folstein (Psychology). Grade: A

Research Design & Analysis I. Grade: A

Research Design & Analysis II. Grade: A-

Individual Research Study: Science of Moral Dilemmas. Paul Conway. Grade: A

Individual Research Study: Dual Process Theory in Moral Psychology. Paul Conway. Grade: A

Tutorial in Philosophy Teaching. Michael Bishop. Grade: Satisfactory

Naturalist Normativity. Michael Bishop & James “Jack” Justus. Grade: Satisfactory

Expertise & Think Aloud Protocol Analysis. Anders Ericsson. Grade: A

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

2020 – present | Co-managing Editor at The Brains Blog

2022 – 2024 | American Philosophical Association’s Ad Hoc Committee On Virtual Meetings. My role: Testing the effectiveness of moving the American Philosophical Association’s annual conferences online.

2018 – 2022 | Social Media Partner at Neural Mechanisms Online

2016 – 2020 | Contributing Editor at The Brains Blog

2015 – 2019 | Webmaster: Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Agency Conference

2015 – 2017 | Co-organizer of the Minds Online Conference

2013 | Co-organizer of the 29th Annual Boulder Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science, Boulder

REFEREEING

2023 | Archives of Sexual Behavior, Erkenntnis, 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Journal of the American Philosophical Association, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Philosophical Psychology, PLOS ONE, Society for Philosophy and Psychology

2022 | American Philosophical Quarterly, Cognition, Ergo, Erkenntnis, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Intelligence and National Security, Journal of Experimental Social PsychologyOxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, Palgrave Macmillan, Philosophy, Review of Philosophy and Psychology, Society for Judgment and Decision-making (student poster competition), SyntheseWIRES Cognitive Science

2021 | Archives of Sexual BehaviorAustralasian Journal of Philosophy, Bloomsbury’s Experimental Philosophy of Medicine volume of Advances in Experimental Philosophy series, Educational Research and Reviews, Ergo, ErkenntnisNational Science Foundation, Philosophical Psychology, Philosophies, Review of Philosophy and Psychology, SyntheseWIRES Cognitive Science

2020 | Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Cognition, Cognitive Science, Erkenntnis, Social Psychological and Personality Science, Society for Philosophy & Psychology, Synthese

2019 | British Journal for the Philosophy of SciencePhilosophia, PLOS OneSynthese

2018 | An Introduction to Implicit Bias: Knowledge, Justice, and the Social Mind (Routledge)

2017 | Review of Philosophy and Psychology, Minds Online Conference

2016 | Synthese; Minds Online Conference

2015 | Philosophical Psychology, PLOS One, Minds Online ConferenceGlobal Development Curriculum (Palm Beach Atlantic University)

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH

2023 | A Beginner’s Guide to Neural Mechanisms. A free series of 26 educational videos.

2015 | Judge: National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference, Florida State University

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE

2024 | Search Committee, Member. Non-tenure Strem Faculty for Psychology, Stevens Institute of Technology

2023 | Search Committee, Member. Tenure Track Faculty for Quantitative Social Science, Stevens Institute of Technology

2020 | Search Committee, Grad. Student Observer. Tenure Track Faculty for Philosophy, Florida State University

OTHER UNIVERSITY WORK

Florida State University

2016 – 2019 | Website Manager. Philosophy Department

2014 – 2018 | Teaching Assistant. Philosophy Department

2016 | Prospective Student Coordinator. Philosophy Department

2015 (Summer) | Assistant. The Philosophy & Science of Self-control

University of Colorado, Boulder

2013 – 2014 | Teaching Assistant. Philosophy Department

2013 – 2014 | Assistant. The Committee For The History & Philosophy Of Science (CHPS)

2013 | Research Assistant to Carol Cleland, Michael Tooley

Mount Vernon Nazarene University

2009 – 2011 | Resident Director. Student Development

Palm Beach Atlantic University

2008 – 2009 | Assistant Resident Director, Student Life

2007 – 2008 | 10-year Strategic Plan Committee Undergraduate Representative: President’s Office

2006 – 2008 | Resident Assistant, Student Life

2007 – 2008 | Chapel Assistant, Student Success

NON-ACADEMIC WORK

2013 | Genius Bar Specialist. Apple

2012 | Back of House Specialist. Apple

2011 | Sales Specialist. Apple

2002 – 2008 | Carpenter, Landscaper, Machine operator, etc. Cape Signature Homes

AFFILIATIONS

2020 – present | American Psychological Association

2020 – present | Society for Personality and Social Psychology

2019 – present | Society for Philosophy and Psychology

2019 – present | Network for Research on Morality

2015 – present | Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology

2012 – present | American Philosophical Association

2014 – 2015 | Minorities and Philosophy

2014 – 2015 | Mississippi Academy of Sciences

2012 – 2014 | Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder

VOLUNTEER WORK

2011 |Construction Volunteer, Front Step, Inc., Philadelphia

2010 |Repair Volunteer, One Heart Many Hands, Orange Blossom Trail

2009 |Trail Maintenance Trip Leader, Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, Dahlonega

2008 |Trail Maintenance Volunteer, Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, Dahlonega

2008, 2009 |Construction Volunteer, Habitat For Humanity, West Palm Beach

2007 |Volunteer, South Florida Science Museum, West Palm Beach

2007 |Volunteer, Quantum House, West Palm Beach

2004, 2005 |Home-building Volunteer, Baja Ministries, Tecate

REFERENCES

Michał Białek | Psychology – University of Wroclaw

Philipp Chapkovski | Applied Cognitive Science – University of Bonn

Gafari Lukumon | School of Collective Intelligence, University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco (UM6P)

John Schwenkler  |  Philosophy – Florida State University

Michael Bishop |  Philosophy – Florida State University

James “Jack” Justus |  Philosophy – Florida State University

Paul Conway  |  Psychology – University of Portsmouth

Lisa Liseno  |  The Graduate School – Florida State University

Shannon Spaulding | Philosophy – Oklahoma State University

The late K. Anders Ericsson  |  Psychology – Florida State University

Carol Cleland  |  Philosophy, Committee for the History and Philosophy of Science, Astrobiology – University of Colorado Boulder

Michael Tooley  |  Philosophy – University Colorado Boulder

Robert Rupert  |  Philosophy, Institute of Cognitive Science – University of Colorado Boulder; Philosophy – University of Edinburgh

Michael Mozer  |  Computer Science, Institute of Cognitive Science – University of Colorado Boulder

Craig Hanson  |  Philosophy, Humanities, Pharmacy, Strategic Global Development – Palm Beach Atlantic University

PRAISE

“I enjoy this course because it can be applicable to real-world situations, and it’s a nice break from all the engineering courses I’m taking, but is still related to some subjects taught in the engineering courses (prob & stats). Professor Byrd clearly understands the material and is passionate about it which makes it enjoyable to learn about. He is also interactive with the students, so we get to test our knowledge and how well we understand the topic of discussion.” (Anonymous, mid-semester course feedback, Stevens Institute of Technology, Fall 2023)

“I have learned a great deal from this course and it has augmented the way I consider the world around me, the stances I take, and the way I rationalize some of my decisions.” (Course evaluation, Stevens Institute of Technology, Spring 2023)

“It was a great honor taking [Nick’s] class. Honestly, [Nick is] the most responsible professor I have ever had.” (Senior, Stevens Institute of Technology, Spring 2022)

“I really appreciate [Nick’s] willingness and openness to dive into conversations that are brought about by the genuine curiosity of students. I think that [their] prioritization of balancing that while still maintaining a close connection to the course objectives is a difficult task that [they] have managed very well.” (Anonymous, mid-semester course feedback, Stevens Institute of Technology, Fall 2021)

“This Prof is the best prof to have for any Philosophy class if you see him keep it!” (RateMyProfessors.com, 2019)

“I like that my instructor genuinely cares about us and our understanding. I find the worksheets and the slide recaps to be extremely helpful.” (Anonymous, mid-semester course feedback, Florida State University, 2019)

“Fantastic professor, genuinely helped us learn effectively rather than feed us the material. Give this man a raise, he is in the top 3 best professors I have had in the last 5 years here.” (Anonymous Student Evaluation, Florida State University, 2018)

“…in Nick Byrd’s workshop about debiasing, I was mentally saying to myself, ‘This is exactly what I was looking for in our teaching discussion group diversity presentation and didn’t get! Something concrete and positive (i.e. ‘here’s something you can do’ rather than ‘avoid doing this.’)’” (Faculty, Department of Biology, Florida State University)

“When I think of the people who have positively influenced my time here at FSU, [Nick is] at the top of the list. [Nick] has taught me so much and I am so thankful for all [his] feedback on my work and [his] guidance in general.” (Senior, Florida State University)

“Thank you for your passion, dedication, enthusiasm, readily accessible ‘devil’s advocate’ responses and always encouraging deep thought, refutation, and discussion. I am glad this course was my introduction to the world of Philosophy.” (Junior, Florida State University)

“Nick’s lecture was excellent. […] He began with a light-hearted but stimulating anecdote […]. He then invited students to critique an intuitive moral principle, by which he immediately elicited student participation and dialogue […]. Nick fielded questions and comments with competency and charity, capably guiding the conversation toward the lesson while affirming students’ insights along the way. The PowerPoint presentation was first-rate, serving as a useful road map for students but never overloading them with too much information. Nick’s tone was relaxed but engaging, and he was able to maintain students’ attention throughout. Nick’s lecture demonstrated both competency with the subject matter and careful preparation.” (Dan Miller, Florida State University)

“Nick consistently demonstrated enthusiasm for the class and course material, as well as concern for the students…. his grades were consistently submitted in advance of their deadlines. His response time to email inquiries was immediate. Nick was always prepared. I could always count on him. In short, he was the dream teaching assistant.” (Carmen Marcous, Florida State University)

“[Nick] did an excellent job.” (Alfred Mele, Florida State University, Philosophy & Science of Self-control)

“Consummate professionalism…supportive attitude towards students; detailed feedback for students…” (Jack Justus, Florida State University)

“[Nick is] impossibly responsible.” (John Schwenkler, Florida State University)

“…I was especially impressed with the way [Nick] conducted himself with the students. I was able to witness a number of [Nick’s] interactions with students and his conduct was not only professional but he also communicated to the students a real eagerness to help them….I also know that he can handle himself well when confronted with a hostile student.” (John Roberts, Florida State University)

“[Nick is] the best TA ever! I became a philosophy major after taking [a class in which Nick was the TA]….” (Sophomore, Florida State University)

“[Nick] is the best administrative assistant that I have worked with in the past ten years of chairing [The Committee For The History & Philosophy Of Science].” (Carol Cleland, University of Colorado Boulder)

“Nick is incredible. Definitely fully committed to helping students learn. Thank you.” (Anonymous Student Evaluation, University of Colorado Boulder)

“Nick did a really nice job of explaining the readings and coming up with questions for discussion. He was always well-prepared and led the discussions effectively. I always felt more prepared going into the lectures, writing papers, and taking quizzes after going to [Nick’s recitation].” (Anonymous Student Evaluation, University of Colorado Boulder)

“I cannot emphasize enough about how professional and responsible Nick has been…in my nine years on this campus I have not had a staff member excel in both of these areas as well as Nick.” (Ryan Schmitz, Mount Vernon Nazarene University)

“I characterize [Nick] as both intellectually fearless and intellectually tenacious. [Nick] is also one of the finest philosophical writers that I have ever had the pleasure to work with.” (Craig Hanson, Palm Beach Atlantic University)