Friday, April 16, 2010

Pascal's Wager (simplified)

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century French philosopher who, through the use of decision theory, concluded that it’s safer to bet on God’s existence rather than not. The following is a simplified version of his reasoning:

You believe in God (Theist):
  • If God exists, you gain everything.
  • If God does not exist, you gain nothing and lose nothing.
OR

You don’t believe in God (Atheist):
  • If God exists, you lose everything.
  • If God does not exist, you gain nothing and lose nothing.
Atheism is the worst bet: everything’s at stake with no chance of winning the jackpot.

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