Atheists what do you think of Pascals wager?

Question

Do you think their is credibility to it

Answer 1

wow, drinking this early.. thankfully I drink non-alcoholic things..*drink*

It's completely flawed from its inception.. it assumes that there are only two choices: atheism or christianity.

Answer 2

Seems like a poor wager to me.

How about the counter wager? Why not believe there is no god and no afterlife? This way, I can act more responsibly in this life (I am not putting things off for a 'next' one or leaving my waste for those I leave behind), I can focus on gaining as much knowledge and wisdom (I don't have garbage beliefs cluttering my mind) as I can, and I have a lot more free Sundays! I can't think of a reason why anyone would want to give THIS up!

Agnostics are not fence-sitters. They merely acknowledge more possibilities and purposes of and for existence. Unless a single one of these becomes all-wise proven (I suspect the purpose aspect is impossible to prove and is anthropically chosen for personal/subjective reasons), all such possibilities are statistically equivalent, given that they are falsifiable (most theist views are not) and the model fits the data. Get it?

Any more questions?

Answer 3

No there isn't. It's like the "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" game. You can use any modern actor to substitute for Kevin Bacon and it will still work. It is not exclusive to Kevin Bacon, so it's just a silly game that proves nothing about the popularity of any actor. For Pascal's Wager, you could substitute any god, and it would be just as flawed. Imagine, what if you used the "Wager" against Christians by substituting Allah. Would they finally see the argument fails?

Answer 4

No, if God is omnipotent and he catches you making a religious decision for your own self gain, he will switch on the fire-and-brimstone hottub in anticipation of your arrival.

Also it's stupid because picking "a religion" won't work, you would have to choose the correct religion. Since many religions claim that the worse sin is to follow another religion, you are better off being an athiest or agnostic and trying to live a good life.

Answer 5

Nope.

Do you think you know who is the real god and whom you should really believe in 80 million gods?

Do you think god is a fool who'll accept your false faith based on that pascal's wager?

And what we have to lose for believing in god? We lose heck of Intellectual potential.

Answer 6

The problem with the wager is that it is a false dilemma. The choice isn't between one god and no god but rather all gods and no god. This reduction in exclusivity destroys the whole premise of the argument.

Answer 7

It is a cop-out. This quote is a much better philosophy:

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear”
- Thomas Jefferson

Answer 8

The logical progression makes sense, but the base assumptions are all wrong. So it falls apart before it even begins.

Answer 9

It's a really stupid idea, especially if you factor in all the different hell believing faiths there are in the world that you'd have to consider "believing" in. Also, you can't make yourself believe something just to be safe. You either do or you don't.

Answer 10

I'm sorry, it's too early here for drinking. Could you come back later and ask again? Around 5:00?

Answer 11

It makes no sense for an atheist, but perhaps it would for an agnostic. For me, as an atheist, it would be tantamount to living my life as a lie.