Pascal's Wager

[camrogers]

I likes it.

Which I suppose means a gun rampage through this office is out of the question.*










*: I am not going to go on a gun rampage through this office.

Comments

[fluffworld.livejournal.com]

I like the concepts it led to, but I hope that anyone who "believes" in God because they are hedging bets is set on fire by syphilitic St Bernards with BO who hump them to death as they burn.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

I just like the idea that - even if you believe the odds are a million to one of God existing - why not? People with faith live longer, beat cancer and are happier. And if they tend to stop and ask themselves WWJD? when faced with a dilemma... well, there are worse role models.

[fluffworld.livejournal.com]

Pascal's wager doesn't nessecarily mean Christianity, though, and even if it does, believing in Christ does not always equate with WWJD values.

I hate the concept. I hate the idea of believing in God because it might lead to a cookie. I hate the idea of going along with faith and its institutions (including those such as Catholicism that demonise homosexuality and passionately argue against gay rights) not because you believe with your heart and your soul and you yearn for something more, something transcendent, but because you think you might win a bet.

There is a quote in the New Testament something like "because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth" which kinda sums up my attitude.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

I get that. my take's that of an open-minded agnostic who thinks "Well, it can't hurt."

[confusiontempst.livejournal.com]

That's a better argument than pascal's wager. We should have faith because people with faith get ancilliary benefits. Whereas Pascal's wager suffers from:
1) There are multiple religions who state that there will be punishment for the worship of incorrect deity.
2) The punishment for worshipping the incorrect deity is, on average, worse than the punishment for being a virtuous atheist.
Therefore:
3) We should be virtuous atheists, as the probability of selecting the correct religion is remote, and it hedges our bets more.

[hestia.livejournal.com]

1) There are multiple religions who state that there will be punishment for the worship of incorrect deity.

I don't know every religion that exists but as I understand it, there are only three religions that say you must worship their deity or be damned. They are "The Big Three" monotheistic religions and they all worship the same God. In effect it's only the one God who says it so pick that one and you avoid damnation.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

The Buddha is said to have argued something similar, that whether or not there's an afterlife and whether or not there's karma, at the very least you have the satisfaction of having lived a pure and blameless life.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's sorta what I'm talking about... but less judgmental. :P

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

See, that's what I love about religious people - their forgiving and charitable nature.

[fluffworld.livejournal.com]

I'm an athiest. Which is why I didn't say "damned for all eternity".

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Ah, fairysnuff.

[fluffworld.livejournal.com]

Sparkly yet sneezy. Awesome.

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

I heard he's a bastard to play D&D with cos he mix-maxes like you wouldn't believe.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

*snork*