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Pascal's Wager (the new version)
February 27, 2013 at 3:45 am
Hi all,
Let's start with a new old topic
Pascal's Wager
I"ll put the statement which I'm trying to prove first
Atheism is a very weak position to take, (Anything is better than nothing)
P(G) is the probability of God existence (which is >0 unless you can prove that God doesn't exist)
V the value of your life
P(V) the probability of your death
P(G)/(P(V)xV) will go to infinity as your life is coming to an end
But as you don't know when are you going to die, you should embrace a religion NOW!
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RE: Pascal's Wager (the new version)
February 27, 2013 at 3:52 am
Pascal's Wager undermines what it means to have faith in God. Ultimately, you're in it for your own selfish gain. In this case, it's making the best choice given that you might die soon.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
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RE: Pascal's Wager (the new version)
February 27, 2013 at 4:10 am
(This post was last modified: February 27, 2013 at 4:13 am by Ryantology.)
The odds that any specific god is the "right" god is meaningless (because there are an infinite number of possible gods). If you choose to believe, you are certain to believe in one that doesn't really exist. Therefore, it is in no discernible way advantageous to believe.
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RE: Pascal's Wager (the new version)
February 27, 2013 at 4:21 am
In that case, I agree with you. In practical terms though, I can't bring myself to live under religious belief X because I won't be sincere about it. I'll be living a lie because I'm not being true to myself. Pascal's Wager simply isn't a method that would work in reality. It's only good philosophically.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
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RE: Pascal's Wager (the new version)
February 27, 2013 at 4:38 am
What do we have here... claims that believing will make you realise it's the true religion & Mohammad's anecdote that is vague and applicable to all religions across the board...
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle