Either there is a God, or there isn't.

[Perfection]

Pascal didn't take odds of actually winning each scenario into account. It assumes 50/50 odds.

I believe there is a 0% chance that God exists. Therefore, betting on the existence of God is not something I'd do, regardless of the possible outcomes.

It also assumes God has a system of morality in place for humans, that you can figure out what that system of morality is, and that rewards those that perform within these moral standards and punish those who don't.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Clearly Pascal didn't have a clue about god.

 

[The Last Conformist]

What, exactly, allows you to know more about god than ol' Pascal did?

 

[Birdjaguar]

What, exactly, allows you to know more about god than ol' Pascal did?

Tough question. But... As perfection noted his wager made many underlying assumptions; none of which I particularly agree with. So in the tried and true tradition of OT I get to point my finger at him and say "I know better."

To put a more serious spin on your question, "What allows me to know more about god than ol' Pascal?" I deduce that pascal was a firm believer in reasoned answers to life's big questions and he did not rely on the irrational and merely experiential to arrive at his conclusions. If god encompasses all of existence and life's fullness, then god cannot be known only through thoughtful processes. Perhaps my willingness to accept things I cannot understand and cannot explain as sources of truth gives me a sharper perspective on some of those big questions.

My knowledge of Pascal is distant and unreliable, so any slander or misrepresentation of his thoughts or writings is based on my ignorance and unintentional.

 

[Perfection]

Irrationality prevails?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Irrationality prevails?

Do you think most people in the world behave rationally, in well thought out actions, most of the time?

 

[diablodelmar]

I find it hard to believe there can't be a God. How do we come into being? What is our purpose?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Who says we have a purpose, beyond any we may set for ourselves?

 

[Perfection]

Do you think most people in the world behave rationally, in well thought out actions, most of the time?

I don't hold mundane human behavior to the same standards of systems of philosophy.

I find it hard to believe there can't be a God.

Not many people say their can't be a god (myself included) just there it isn't or it probobly isn't one.

How do we come into being?

Evolution!

What is our purpose?

Do we need one?

 

[Birdjaguar]

I don't hold mundane human behavior to the same standards of systems of philosophy.

But the day to day behavior of 6 billion people is real and the writings of philosophers is mostly idle specualtion.

 

[The Last Conformist]

That sounds like an entirely novel form of ad populum.

 

[Perfection]

But the day to day behavior of 6 billion people is real and the writings of philosophers is mostly idle specualtion.

Yeah, but the behavior of 6 billion people is only irrational from an internal reference frame. When treated as crappy malfunctioning machines human behavior makes rational sense.

 

[El_Machinae]

I find it hard to believe there can't be a God. How do we come into being? What is our purpose?

What was the purpose of all the people who reject God?

 

[warpus]

I find it hard to believe there can't be a God. How do we come into being? What is our purpose?

Why do we require a purpose?

Does your cat have a purpose in life? Does a fish?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Why do we require a purpose?

Does your cat have a purpose in life? Does a fish?

Sure they do - to taste good.

 

[El_Machinae]

Um ... that's the same thing you say about babies. In fact, Freud would have something to say with your fascination with consuming all of God's creation.

Or maybe there's something else? F'tagn?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Um ... that's the same thing you say about babies. In fact, Freud would have something to say with your fascination with consuming all of God's creation.

Or maybe there's something else? F'tagn?

You got me. I am really Cthulu in disguise.

Who knew Cthulu was Mormon? I'll bet that will shake up some people's worldviews, huh?

 

[Narz]

Sure they do - to taste good.

How do you know your cat tastes good?

 

[3 EMS]

I'm curious. Where is the contradiction? When I studied evo, in high school, it was clearly stated that the origin of life was unknown. I have never seen anything, in the Bible, that is against evo as being one of the mechanisms, used by God, for the creation of life. Or actually after the creation life.

Actually some of the Bible's early characters lived hundreds of years. Later ones had shorter lives so I can actually see an evo taking place within the Bible.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

How do you know your cat tastes good?

Funny story - one day my dad was making lunch for the family in the broiler (the little grill thing under the oven usually used to store pans) when the cat jumped in when he wasn't looking. We had to make the best of a bad situation, you know?

Actually, the cat escaped unharmed after about a minute because my dad smelled the burning fur.