Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Why Gambling With Pascal Is A Bad Idea - Trollface Socrates (H-01)


(I’ve been away from the blogosphere for too long. I think me and my GPA are starting to go into withdrawals. ).

This afternoon, when I returned to my dorm after my tiring day of classes, I had a decision to make. I could party with my main man Spongebob at Super Weenie Hut Jr. and enjoy a nice frothy glass of Kelp Beer on the house, or I could decide to stay home and settle with a good book instead. Hanging out with my significant sponge friend sounds like an appealing night on the town, but if I went out to Weenie Hut’s, there’s a possibility that I could be in a car wreck and lose my leg. Or get mugged by a marauding band of thieves. Or never make it and end up being attacked by a giant man-eating bear, thus ending my existence. If I stayed home, the odds of such an atrocity happening to me are much lower, and home is truly where the heart belongs, right? Instead of venturing out into the wilderness today, I think I’ll just play it safe for today.

This, ladies and gentleman, is the basis of Pascal’s reasoning for his world famous wager. If Billy Mays were still alive today, he’d tell you you’d be getting a bad deal, and here’s why:

Pascal’s wager is based on the fact that Pascal decided to believe in God only because he figured the projected alternative (hell) for not believing in him was worse. And if he somehow managed to find salvation through His word, good thing s could only come of that. However, it must be noted that Pascal dictated his actions out of fear, not out of genuine interest or desire. So, it begs the question on how Pascal lived the rest of his life if he let his fears of what could happen get the best of him.

In a world where people are afraid to take risks, and more importantly, are too afraid to support what they believe in, we all face the risk of imploding on ourselves or exploding on others for having to keep our true feelings suppressed and hidden for the things that we do. Why should I have to believe in God just because there’s a possibility I could go to heaven? Why should I work a job I’m miserable at just because there’s a possibility I could never get another job again? Imagine how destitute of a people we would be if we moved from day to day suppressing our deepest desires only out of the fear that could possibly arise from them. Worse yet, imagine a world full of people motivated by their fears as opposed to our dreams. Can you imagine the result of so many people and so many nations struggling to lay their justified and unjustified fears to rest by exacting their emotional distress upon our world? Such a society, such a place, could exist for very long. And no one could be happy.

The concept of “Belief,” like faith, is a very complex and irrational thing. And no matter what you believe in, everyone you meet will each have their own version of belief, sometimes radically different from the things you believe in. To believe is to develop a deep, emotional connection with something, and when you believe in something, it’s something that you hold close to your own heart and soul. This is why we considered Pascal’s wager to be erroneous, and personally why I consider it to be such a heinous crime against human nature, because it attempts to rationalize the irrational, and control the very out-of-control things that make us human. Regardless of what may come because of our personal beliefs, we in Trollface Socrates agree that we should all make them, mend them, nurture them, and stick by them based off our own personal experiences and not our personal fears.

So next time a guy named Pascal tries to wager with you, just walk away. That’s what Vegas is for.

Freebies of the Day
(Sorry for no pictures today guys! This was just a hard topic to pick pictures for. :P)

Interesting Tidbit/Discussion Questions: The club that I'm secretary of, To Write Love On Her Arms (The MTSU Chapter), does an activity called Fears vs. Dreams, and it's supposed to serve as a remind to the person doing it and everyone looking out on it that we're living a story, no matter where we may be inside of it. The hope is that you'll carry that dream that you hold dear into the future, and use it to counteract the fears that you have in your heart. My question to the populace is, do you think that the power of fears is enough to dictate our lives like it did Pascal's? If not, do you think the power of our dreams is enough to overcome it?

Author's Note: If I got too off topic, someone let me know please! 

6 comments:

  1. I think Pascal is believing in the right things for the wrong reason. A since as you said, faith is very radical from one person to the next, if his faith is to make choices from fear, then so be it. And under his decision, we would still be gambling as who said Christianity was the religion if there was one? What if you followed Christianity in fear, only to discover Hinduism was the appropriate religion.

    I think Pascal let fear of the unknown decide his life, but it was his decision to choose that "faith" of sorts. I think his idea is a good one, and even somewhat practical, but erroneous in the fact that it still isn't a guarantee of a successful outcome.

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  2. I agree with Morgan that our beliefs are deep emotional things that are near and dear to our hearts. However, I do also think we make a lot of choices based on our fears. Everyone seems to be dismissing the idea of the wager but, really, don't we wager something everyday? Yes, Christianity may be the wrong religion to bet on and Hinduism may be the right one. But, if we put aside the inaccuracies of Pascal's wager and all the uncertainty, then why should we so easily dismiss the idea? Everyday I wager what will be better for my future based on my fears of what could be. Maybe we shouldn't live our life based on our fears but it is something we always do. I doubt that it is something that will soon change either.

    link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMk2kHZUrAc

    DQ: Does letting fear have an impact on our life decisions negatively affect us? Or is it a good thing?

    Factual Question: Was Pascal only famous for his philosophical beliefs?

    Answer: No, he also had his feet in mathematics, chemistry, and other academic disciplines.

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  3. Section H01

    I agree with Zach. Pascal's Wager is risky in itself. I find that believing simply out of fear is not belief at all. That's no way to live. I would rather believe in something that I felt truly convicted to believe and risk being wrong than change my beliefs simply because "the odds" were better.

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  4. I think Pascal's Wager is a good catalyst for people who do not believe in God to begin exploring their religious beliefs. When a person realizes the possible consequences of not believing in God (hell), they may get a little uneasy. When someone acknowledges the urgency of salvation, they may at least try to see what this God guy is all about. By going to church and experiencing God, they may begin to genuinely believe. His wager makes people think, and I think that is a good thing. However, I don't think that "forcing" yourself to believe in God, solely because of your fear of the consequences, is true salvation.

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    1. Although I agree with the wrong intentions aspect, I also agree with the fact that it is a good catalyst regardless. To answer Matt's question, yes. Before you're converted and saved and all that good stuff, you usually go to church and study the teachings and everything. There would be plenty of time for someone to find they actually found themselves convicted in those believes and I'd say they could find true salvation even though they only looked into the religion because of fear. I think that Pascal's motive for coming up with this theory was actually an underhanded way of being a disciple. I bet he thought that his followers in math and science, i.e. people who rely on logic, might start thinking about Christianity if he gave them a logical reason to from a person they respected. So I doubt he followed Christianity because of his wager, I think it was just a sort of trick.

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  5. DQ: if you force yourself to believe out of fear (pascal's wager), and ultimately do become a true believer... would that lead to salvation since your motives were wrong?

    Cognitive Dissonance, which is what Pascal advocated in saying "go to church and act like a believer til you do believe", generally works.

    Cognitive Dissonance is actually one of my all-time favorite psychology theories. Check it out:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

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