Pascal's Wager Revisited

[datc]

Dignity? According to you we are born sick and evil and then commanded to be better.

What people are definitely born as is stupid, including "agnostic atheist," as in babies indeed lack the belief that God exists or not, and babies do not live their lives worrying about eternal life or God, and then, as they grow up, they wise up, some more than others.

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Besides, if the eternal afterlife is so much better than this life, why aren't you in a hurry to get there?

Because the temporal life is important both (a) as an end in itself and (b) as a means of preparation for eternal life. Regarding (b), most of us aren't yet ready for it; to the extent that some saints are, (a) still remains; moreover, end of life for humans comes fast enough not to worry about any delay.

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Provide evidence that our incentives are negated by our understanding of the world and our place in it.

Again, fear is of a future evil; hope is for future good; perception of a greater future good kindles greater future hopes; hopes is a virtue that helps one persevere during the arduous and costly task of attaining future expected utility; if a "better place both for you and others" is transient, then this place's desirability in your own estimation is to that extent reduced; which makes it less sensible for you to make the efforts to achieve it.

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And in what way do you think that admitting other animals even approach your own level of intellect and empathy cause a life to be subpar?  The need to downgrade others in order to feel better about oneself is the hallmark of a subpar life.

I'm not downgrading animals; I am upgrading humans to where they already are.

And why would any effort to make this world or oneself better be negated by an understanding that this world is transient?  It is those who neglect this world in favor of a possible afterlife that are dangerously deluded.

Because making yourself or another happy for eternity feels more valuable that for a finite number of years.