The argument from personal discomfort

[jenny1972]

People can also shun belief because of consequences. That's the flaw in Pascal's wager. Belief comes at a cost. Not everyone is prepared or willing to pay the price. Its easier to deny the fact of His Lordship than follow Jesus. Its much more comfortable to face oblivion.

people believe when they are convinced of something , disbelief is a result of not being convinced of something . if you want someone to believe what you believe convince them that its true it really is that simple

more than anything people want the truth . dont you ?

[Anomalocaris]

I just made a new short video, addressing what I call the argument from personal discomfort. I put it in the religion section because it almost always has to do with God and related concepts.

Basically, it's the argument that something can't be true because you don't like the consequences of it being true.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/6LN-oKZIUeY

This is characterized just as well if it is called "argument from yokelishness".

I haven't seen the world, and if I think there is more to the world than my home town, then it means I don't know the world, and that hurts my ego. Therefore there is no world beyond my home town.

[Neo-Scholastic]

more than anything people want the truth . dont you ?

Yes, of course. I could not agree more. Believe me. Life was much simpler when I was an atheist. That is why I made my post (admittedly smug because my fans expect nothing less). I found it somewhat romantic to live as a 'spark bound on each side by darkness on each side and empowered with the responsibility to define my own meaning in an absurd world. Yet that earnest quest to find purpose revealed to me that my lack of belief ran counter to the results of my rational inquiry. I truly belief that for many on AF, personal identification as an atheist and ideological commitment motivates them to remain in their disbelief.

[robvalue]

People can also shun belief because of consequences. That's the flaw in Pascal's wager. Belief comes at a cost. Not everyone is prepared or willing to pay the price. Its easier to deny the fact of His Lordship than follow Jesus. Its much more comfortable to face oblivion.

No, the flaw in Pascal's Wager is that it's absolute shit. It's actually a great argument for not being part of any religion, and for not concerning yourself with gods at all even if they did exist.

I've been meaning to do a video on just what a terrible argument it is. It not only utterly fails on every level, but explodes in the face of the person using it.

But you're right. Beliefs coming at a cost is one of the failures of the argument. Devoting any percentage of your life to a possibly entirely pointless endeavour is a gamble.