Pascal's wager - a third option!?

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Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Rum » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:07 am

:hehe:

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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by mistermack » Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:12 am

That is not as far-fetched as it sounds. I've got seven goldfish in a tank, and if they started praising me all day long, day in day out, they would be down the toilet by the end of the week.
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by A Monkey Shaved » Sat Aug 28, 2010 9:44 pm

What if there is another option and the Muslims were right and their God despised believers in any foreign God such as what the Christians believe in, and punished them more severely than believing in no God at all? They will be the ones with the poker up their bottom and us atheists would be forgiven as just a little ignorant.

BTW it does remind me of this sketch by Rowen Atkinson

I especially like the bit where he said "and finally Christians, Christians? Ah yes, I'm sorry I am afraid the Jews were right"
Just because more people believe Jesus is the son of God and not the son of Satan does not make it any truer.

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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Svartalf » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:04 pm

Yeah, Pascal's wager is pure drek from end to end... never got how he could be fooled by it himself, unless he was so afraid of hell that he grasped at straws to help him sleep at night or he pulled a brilliant Descartes and inserted a nonsensical argument for god in the middle of his serious writings to fool the church and be let work in peace.
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Rum » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:09 pm

Svartalf wrote:Yeah, Pascal's wager is pure drek from end to end... never got how he could be fooled by it himself, unless he was so afraid of hell that he grasped at straws to help him sleep at night or he pulled a brilliant Descartes and inserted a nonsensical argument for god in the middle of his serious writings to fool the church and be let work in peace.
It is easy to underestimate the fear of hell which Christians used to labour under. I have recently become aware of the Muslim fear of it too, which seems even more ingrained, oppressive and controlling.

A 'Pascal's wager' is quite understandable in a world where you have to be really brave to step out of line and stand up for what good common sense tells you is the truth, rather than centuries of traditional and indoctrination.

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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Svartalf » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:21 pm

Trouble with Pascal's wager is that it rests on the unshakeable premise that not only there is a deity, but you already know the right one to placate... given the fact that Pascal had faced trouble in his life for skimming too close to protestantism for the church to be pleased (and lived in an atmosphere where catholic states warred with protestant ones, each claiming the other side were hellbound heretics) makes me feel uneasy about his completely glossing over the "what god and rite" question like it did not exist at all.
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Rum » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:28 pm

The OP (and the TV prog) was not, I fancy, referring to Pascal's particular circumstances, which if I am honest I am not familiar with myself, but with the commonly understood 'option' , which I do understand. I think for those people who are moving from a position of having faith in a deity to one of letting go of that particular safety net, which for many it clearly is, it is understandable as what might think of as an 'interim' position.

But what wtf - it matters not. People can believe what they like as long as they don't mess with me.

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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Svartalf » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:32 pm

But.. But...my creed IS that it's good work to mess with rum, especially pouring him into a glass with lemon juice, honey and spices and topping with hot water...
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Rum » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:35 pm

Svartalf wrote:But.. But...my creed IS that it's good work to mess with rum, especially pouring him into a glass with lemon juice, honey and spices and topping with hot water...
:console:

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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Dries van Tonder » Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:50 pm

:dries:
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by tattuchu » Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:44 pm

Jolly good! I love cream cakes :awesome:
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by Bolero » Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:26 am

I got a real giggle out of that. Cheers, Rum.
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Re: Pascal's wager - a third option!?

Post by A Monkey Shaved » Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:57 pm

Kind of reminds me of threatening children who gurn a lot. "Look if you make that ugly face and the wind changes with will say like that". I could just as easily put a Pacals wager on believing or not there are serious consequences in gurning before a cold front passes over as I could with believing or not in a god.
Just because more people believe Jesus is the son of God and not the son of Satan does not make it any truer.

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