The Brilliance of Pascal's Wager

[Milton Platt]

In my case I found out allah will try to
hang me by my hair in eternal fire coz
I wont cover my hair.

Let him try, I will kick his knee.

LOL!!!

Rah rah ree!
Kick him in the knee!
Rah rah rass!
kick him in the.......other knee!

 

[Milton Platt]

It is not brilliant, it is a false dichotomy.

It basically says that if Christians are right you go to heaven; if Christians are wrong then you've lost nothing. So why not be a Christian there's nothing to lose
But it ignores the thousands of other gods that may exist.

It also assumes that Christianity costs you nothing ... but it does - praying, devotion, attending church, tithing, etc is all wasted

It also assumes that you can choose to believe; so that then leads to your god not recognising false belief and being silly enough to buy into your phony belief

I'm thinking his post was a joke???

 

[night912]

Cthulhu doesn't care about your false dichotomy or Christians and atheist or who is right and who is wrong. In the end Cthulhu is 100% non-discriminatory, discriminate being something he proudly never does, as he'll devour the souls of princes and paupers, male and female, white and black, young and old, abled body and infirm, he devours them all the same.

You believe in the wrong Cthulhu.

 

[Altfish]

I'm thinking his post was a joke???

...and you'd be wrong

 

[PearlSeeker]

The 'Lunatic, Liar, Lord' argument put forward leaves out other possibilities. How about this one: Legend.

Only those who accept the Bible as true and inerrant believe that Jesus actually said all the he is supposed to have said.

You also seem to reject the possibility of 'lunatic.' Why?

Or a combination e.g. the legendary Lord.

P. S.: This not the Pascal's wager. It's the Lewis's trilemma.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Why does politics have to pollute EVERY ****ing thread on this forum?>>

It could be, because some approach it with Pascal's wager.

 

[syo]

Pascal's Wager

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Why not take advantage of those possibilities so long as they remain possible? If choosing to trust in the existence of a benevolent deity helps a person to move forward in a positive way in their life, why reject that positive possibility based on "lack of proof"? That makes no sense to me. Lack of proof does not render a possibility impossible. So why not use that possibility to our advantage so long as it's there?

Would you jump off a skyscraper to see if the possibility is possible?

 

[Samael_Khan]

Today I realized that Pascal's Wager is truly a brilliant argument, and because of it, I have now decided to believe that Cthulhu exists. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the god Cthulhu, he is a powerful deity that resembles a human/octupus/dragon hybrid. His head contains a large number of tentacles surrounding his giant mouth. There are many religions around the world dedicated to his worship, including the official religion, Cthulhu's Witnesses. You can learn about him in the holy scriptures, "The Call of Cthulhu" as well as the song "Space Lord" by Monster Magnet which describes him as having been stuffed in your pocket for the last hundred days, and when he doesn't get his bath, he takes it out on the slaves. He commands you to "polish them rockets and swallow those pills and say 'Oh, Space Lord Mother****er **mod edit**.' He left his throne a million miles away, he drinks from your *** **mod edit**, and sings the blues every day

Anyway, obviously, this deity has tremendous power and fearsome strength. Believing in him is clearly the safe thing to do. If he doesn't exist and I believe in him and act as if he exists, I lose nothing. But, if I don't believe in him and it turns out he exists, he might punish me with his powerful tentacles and eat me, or perhaps send me to hell. The consequences of disbelief in Cthulhu could be infinitely bad, and there is at least a possibility that he exists. Thus, belief in Cthulhu is clearly rational.

I prefer believing in Azathoth because we are just a figment of his imagination but i fear Cthulhu will drive me insane if I dont give him exclusive worship him.

You also forgot to mention our book of spells for rituals called the Necronomicon.

And you forgot to mention the famous Cthulhu gospel heavy metal band Metallica, with their song "Dream No More" and their instrumental "The Call of Kthulu". They revered His holy name so much that they didnt even want to spell it correctly for the title because they didnt want to invoke his wrath!

Our great prophet HP Lovecraft smiles indescribably on your brilliant apologetics from the Horned Moon...

I do feel so sorry for the unbelievers who arent ready for the fishmen apocalypse...

 

[blü 2]

I prefer believing in Azathoth because we are just a figment of his imagination but i fear Cthulhu will drive me insane if I dont give him exclusive worship him.

You also forgot to mention our book of spells for rituals called the Necronomicon.

And you forgot to mention the famous Cthulhu gospel heavy metal band Metallica, with their song "Dream No More" and their instrumental "The Call of Kthulu". They revered His holy name so much that they didnt even want to spell it correctly for the title because they didnt want to invoke his wrath!

Our great prophet HP Lovecraft smiles indescribably on your brilliant apologetics from the Horned Moon...

I do feel so sorry for the unbelievers who arent ready for the fishmen apocalypse...

You're not related to the Innsmouth Khans by any chance?

 

[Galateasdream]

 

[Samael_Khan]

You're not related to the Innsmouth Khans by any chance?

Ahh, yes. My cousins.

You are an acquaintance with them I imagine?

 

[Thief]

Today I realized that Pascal's Wager is truly a brilliant argument, and because of it, I have now decided to believe that Cthulhu exists. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the god Cthulhu, he is a powerful deity that resembles a human/octupus/dragon hybrid. His head contains a large number of tentacles surrounding his giant mouth. There are many religions around the world dedicated to his worship, including the official religion, Cthulhu's Witnesses. You can learn about him in the holy scriptures, "The Call of Cthulhu" as well as the song "Space Lord" by Monster Magnet which describes him as having been stuffed in your pocket for the last hundred days, and when he doesn't get his bath, he takes it out on the slaves. He commands you to "polish them rockets and swallow those pills and say 'Oh, Space Lord Mother****er **mod edit**.' He left his throne a million miles away, he drinks from your *** **mod edit**, and sings the blues every day

Anyway, obviously, this deity has tremendous power and fearsome strength. Believing in him is clearly the safe thing to do. If he doesn't exist and I believe in him and act as if he exists, I lose nothing. But, if I don't believe in him and it turns out he exists, he might punish me with his powerful tentacles and eat me, or perhaps send me to hell. The consequences of disbelief in Cthulhu could be infinitely bad, and there is at least a possibility that he exists. Thus, belief in Cthulhu is clearly rational.

I trump your Spaghetti Head

with the Almighty

 

[Thief]

I feel the same way about the flying spaghetti monster

you too

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Or even more importantly, one of these options enables me while the other option does not.

Key word in this sentence being "me" - as in you. You're able to state that this bullcrap, ridiculous belief set enables YOU. But that is as far as you can take it unless you verify that it does the same for anyone you want to attribute the same to.

Me? I find belief in any sort of deity very unfulfilling. I don't see the point. It certainly doesn't "enable" me. Especially when I can't help but see ridiculousness and shenanigans from any and all believers who want to claim they have any sort of "truth," while spouting off the most inane, unverifiable blather I have ever heard.

 

[Thief]

Key word in this sentence being "me" - as in you. You're able to state that this bullcrap, ridiculous belief set enables YOU. But that is as far as you can take it unless you verify that it does the same for anyone you want to attribute the same to.

Me? I find belief in any sort of deity very unfulfilling. I don't see the point. It certainly doesn't "enable" me. Especially when I can't help but see ridiculousness and shenanigans from any and all believers who want to claim they have any sort of "truth," while spouting off the most inane, unverifiable blather I have ever heard.

so you would contend.....YOU are top of the line life form
and the LIKELIHOOD of a Something Greater

just isn't there

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

so you would contend.....YOU are top of the line life form
and the LIKELIHOOD of a Something Greater

Why did you pair these two sentiments?

NO. I do NOT consider myself a "top of the line life form." Honestly, from what I have seen and read from you, you are FAR MORE close to thinking that you are "top of the line" than I am. I have expressed multiple times that I understand myself to be objectively no more important than any stone. But you however? In past threads I have read what seems to be completely, unabashed confusion when someone likens we humans to other members of the animal kingdom. As if you can't even imagine that another creature could be considered on par with a human being. You trap yourself here, friend. YOU are the one who is arrogant enough to believe yourself some greater form of being than others... not I.

...and the LIKELIHOOD of a Something Greater... just isn't there

I'm glad you worded it like this, because yes, this is it EXACTLY. Do I KNOW that God does not exist? No... not for certain. But do I believe His existence to be UNLIKELY... yes. Very much yes. The likelihood of God existing just isn't there. And if you want to get technical, and not involve the "G" word, then I am going to need a definition for "Something Greater." That's just too vague. In what way am I supposed to expect this "thing" you allude to to be "greater" than myself? What am I looking for, exactly? How are we comparing? Are there beings stronger than I am? You bet! Gorillas, elephants, cows, bears. Are there things that can overcome me? Of course... gravity, water, fire, extreme cold, extreme heat. Are there beings smarter than I am? Of course there are. Are there beings that "matter" more than I do? In general... to ME, yes, there certainly are. My family members, for one. Other than that, I would need to know by what metric we are measuring "what matters," and even then, I am free to disagree with you heartily in your assessment of who should "matter" to myself more than I do. So, unless I know what it is we're talking about, then I cannot say at all whether it is "something greater" than myself.

 

[Thief]

I have expressed multiple times that I understand myself to be objectively no more important than any stone.

I might well then talk to the rocks in my driveway

 

[Thief]

But do I believe His existence to be UNLIKELY... yes. Very much yes.

well then.....you don't really have an objection
that you ARE top of the line life form

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

I might well then talk to the rocks in my driveway

Do you understand the difference between subjective and objective? Do you?

I ask because I said my OBJECTIVE worth (think of it as my "worth" to the universe) is no greater than a stone. YOU may very well prize me above a stone, but that is a SUBJECTIVE assessment. That's YOUR opinion, in other words, and does not affect any ACTUAL "worth" I may have inherently.

Do you understand?