“God is, or He is not.” But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up... Which will you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us see which interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and the good; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, your knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one rather than the other, since you must of necessity choose... But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is... If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. - Blaise Pascal
Pascal's Wager, boiled down, seems to mean, if you bet on God, the chances of his existence are 50/50. Betting that God exists, you gain all or nothing. Betting that God doesn't exist, you lose all or nothing. He also insists that you MUST wager. No other option is available.
I'm not much of a betting person and I believe that there are more choices than “God is, or He is not.” So I MUST reject Pascal's insistence that I must wager. I have many gods to choose from, or not. I'm currently an Agnostic and I have the freedom to change my mind whenever I have proof that satisfies me one way or another, this god or that, or no god(s). I don't have to buy into anyone's rationale or god(s). Right now there are a few incentives in not believing like saving money and time. Right now I might be wasting my time thinking about and writing my thoughts on this ancient apologetic philosophy. Fortunately I haven't spent any money on the research. So since I'm even on the money but possibly losing more time that I could use for my own selfish reasons, I will end here.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)

No comments:
Post a Comment