| 4. Pascal's Big Wager |
| This goes out to all of the gambling fans out there. Even if you're not the betting type, you might like this one--it's the ultimate bet. The man behind this was a French philosopher and mathemetician named Blaize Pascal, so it's called Pascal's Wager in some circles. Pascal tended to think that we are always "betting" on things in our day-to-day lives: for example, when I'm heading off to class in the morning, I'm betting that I am going to learn something worthwhile and better my chances of success if I attend my classes. It's usually something of a subconscious process, and when the issue is something small, that's not too bad, but we have to remember that how we "bet" is going to affect our behavior. We have to be aware of ourselves. If I "bet" that I am going to gain from going to class, I will go to class. If I bet that way and I'm right, I gain an hour of valuable learning and experience. If I bet that way and I'm wrong, then I only lose one hour out of my day. If I bet the other way, I might just miss out on something important (like maybe the date of next week's big test...). Pascal saw just this mechanism at work everywhere. He made the very interesting observation that religious belief is also a sort of bet, a wager. We "bet" on whether or not God exists by either following a system of religious belief or maintaining an atheist stance. If we believe that God exists, we devote a lot of time and effort into seeking Him and trying to do what we think He wants of us. If we believe that God does not exist, we ignore all that. Now, the measure of any bet (like whether or not to go to class) depends on what might be gained or lost by betting one way over the other. So let's look at that for a minute: If I bet that God exists, I "lose" the time and effort spent seeking Him. I gain a benevolent, heavenly "Parent" who, while perhaps not visible, can offer comfort in times of distress and I gain strength through faith. If I'm wrong...well, then there won't be any life after death, and I'll never really know I was wrong. If I bet that God does not exists, I avoid losing all that time spent in Church, and energy spent in seeking HIm. But if I am wrong, I cut myself off from all that I stood to gain by believing God existed, that divine Parent. Some religions say that if I don't believe in God, I lose blissful eternal life which I would ohterwise have gained. If nothing else, I might arrive in the afterlife to learn I was wrong all along (here's God, sitting right in front of me) and I will know that I lost all those times when I might have called to Him during my life. In other words, by believing in God I lose little, gain much, and if I'm wrong, I won't ever find out. No reall harm done. By not believing in God, I would conversely gain litte and lose much (depending on your point of view, I cuould lose quite a lot). And if I'm wrong, I'll probably find out. This is a nice little rational argument. It's not really going to win over any devout atheists unless they're really really logic-minded (think like maybe Mr. Spock of Star Trek). This argument is much better suited to people who are sort of "on the fence," unsure of what to believe but wanting to figure it out. This isn't a stopping point either--it's a good way to begin a religious journey, but that journey shouldn't begin and end on just this one "bet". But now you can impress your friends when you're talking philosophy. What do you think? Send feedback: Email Redwing Back to Discussion of God Back to Philosophy Homepage Back to Exploration Homepage Note: Redwing learned the information presented in this paragrph by reading Philosophy for Dummies by Tom Morris, Ph.D (which made her feel really smart). |