Ironically, Pascal died after walking into a bar, whose barkeep asked Pascal if he would like a beer. To which Blaise replied "I THINK NOT" and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
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| - Pascal's Wager
- Pascal's wager
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| - Ironically, Pascal died after walking into a bar, whose barkeep asked Pascal if he would like a beer. To which Blaise replied "I THINK NOT" and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
- Blaise Pascal was a philosopher and mathematician in the 17th century. Pascal's wager, in a nutshell, is this: No one knows for certain whether God exists. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. It's a gamble whether you believe in him or not. So let's treat it like a gamble, says Pascal, and look at the odds. Since the chance of God existing is unknown, but the payoff/punishment scheme is infinitely in favor of believing in God, just on the small chance that he might exist, you had better believe. It seems to be the only wager that makes sense. But wait a minute...
- Pascal's Wager is a philosophical proposition which takes the following form: God either exists or not. 1.
* If God does not exist and you do not not believe in God, you gain nothing and lose nothing. 2.
* If God does exist and you do not believe in God, you are condemned to hell for eternity; infinite loss. 3.
* If God does not exist and you do believe in God, you gain nothing and lose nothing. 4.
* If God does exist and you do believe in God, you will receive an eternity in heaven; infinite gain.
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| abstract
| - Blaise Pascal was a philosopher and mathematician in the 17th century. Pascal's wager, in a nutshell, is this: No one knows for certain whether God exists. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. It's a gamble whether you believe in him or not. So let's treat it like a gamble, says Pascal, and look at the odds. He described the payoff of this gamble as follows. If you choose to believe in God, and you happen to be right, then the reward is infinity. Eternal bliss in heaven. However, if you are wrong, then you lose nothing at all. On the other hand, if you choose not to believe in God, and you're right, you gain nothing (in either of the previous two cases, you just die and that's the end). But if you are wrong, your payoff is negative infinity. Eternal suffering in hell. Since the chance of God existing is unknown, but the payoff/punishment scheme is infinitely in favor of believing in God, just on the small chance that he might exist, you had better believe. It seems to be the only wager that makes sense. But wait a minute...
- Pascal's Wager is a philosophical proposition which takes the following form: God either exists or not. 1.
* If God does not exist and you do not not believe in God, you gain nothing and lose nothing. 2.
* If God does exist and you do not believe in God, you are condemned to hell for eternity; infinite loss. 3.
* If God does not exist and you do believe in God, you gain nothing and lose nothing. 4.
* If God does exist and you do believe in God, you will receive an eternity in heaven; infinite gain. Blaise Pascal reasoned that, given the relative gains and losses for each scenario, the only sensible course for a rational human being was to believe in God since the potentially infinite gains and losses which occur if God exists outweigh any possible loss in a finite situation if God does not exist. This is true regardless of what probability one assigns to God's existence as long as some possibility is assigned.
- Ironically, Pascal died after walking into a bar, whose barkeep asked Pascal if he would like a beer. To which Blaise replied "I THINK NOT" and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
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