A Bear, and Pascal's Wager
Mar. 9th, 2006 04:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
featherynscaleThe other day, I had a dream in which I was being chased by a bear. I often talk about dreams in terms of being chased by a bear (which I must have learned from some television show), as in "You had a bad dream? Were you being chased by a bear?", but to my knowledge, this is the only time that I have ever actually dreamed of being chased by a bear.
In the dream, I was back in college, in my Philosophy class. I was arguing with the professor about Pascal's wager. Now, for context, I really did have a philosophy class, in which I really did argue with the prof about this, and got roundly ignored for it. But here, in the dream, I had much better arguments than I had in real life. But anyway.
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sky_pilott came in and informed us that there was a giant bear ravaging the campus, and that the best thing for it would be to run for our lives. And so we did. And there was, in fact, a giant bear. When I say giant, I don't mean giant like a real grizzly bear is giant. I mean giant like a bear in a kaiju film would be, if they ever made kaiju films about bears. It was rending the buildings and shaking students into its maw. This was, of course, when I woke up.
And I was thinking, how is the thing with the bear any different from Pascal's wager? I was told that there was a bear, and that if I didn't react in the appropriate way, I would suffer for it. Bear + running = fine, no bear + running = fine, no bear + no running = fine, bear + no running = dead. And I was perfectly willing to run from this reported bear, on no more evidence thansky_pilott's say-so. Now, I do consider sky_pilott to be a generally reliable source, so that's something. And yet, I reject the idea that I should believe in a deity based on someone's say-so, because I fear that if I don't, then something bad will happen to me. I suppose that I'm perfectly willing to have a fear-based relationship with giant bears, but not with gods. Or something.
In the dream, I was back in college, in my Philosophy class. I was arguing with the professor about Pascal's wager. Now, for context, I really did have a philosophy class, in which I really did argue with the prof about this, and got roundly ignored for it. But here, in the dream, I had much better arguments than I had in real life. But anyway.
sky_pilott came in and informed us that there was a giant bear ravaging the campus, and that the best thing for it would be to run for our lives. And so we did. And there was, in fact, a giant bear. When I say giant, I don't mean giant like a real grizzly bear is giant. I mean giant like a bear in a kaiju film would be, if they ever made kaiju films about bears. It was rending the buildings and shaking students into its maw. This was, of course, when I woke up. And I was thinking, how is the thing with the bear any different from Pascal's wager? I was told that there was a bear, and that if I didn't react in the appropriate way, I would suffer for it. Bear + running = fine, no bear + running = fine, no bear + no running = fine, bear + no running = dead. And I was perfectly willing to run from this reported bear, on no more evidence than
sky_pilott's say-so. Now, I do consider sky_pilott to be a generally reliable source, so that's something. And yet, I reject the idea that I should believe in a deity based on someone's say-so, because I fear that if I don't, then something bad will happen to me. I suppose that I'm perfectly willing to have a fear-based relationship with giant bears, but not with gods. Or something.
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From a philosopher (me)
Date: 2006-03-10 01:13 am (UTC)Which god? Pascal obviously intends the Xian god, but by the logic of the wager, you should pick out the bitchiest, meanest, least forgiving god, and believe in that one rather than any others or nothing. At this point, the Catholic and Muslim versions run too close a contest for me to decide between them.
What if god is a consequentialist/utilitarian? In that case, going with one of the Eastern religions would be best because samsara offers the greatest good for the greatest number. Everyone gets saved, it's just a matter of time.
you can't trick god I'm borrowing this one from William James in "The Will to Believe." Being saved in the Xian continuum isn't a matter of rationally deciding that you believe in god in order to save your ass. Faith has to be sincere, not selfishly motivated. Pascal's wager proposes the opposite, that one should try to pull a fast one in order to avoid hellfire. If belief in god is a live option, you can certainly use Pascal's wager as a mean to insulate yourself from criticism, but like Anselm's ontological argument and argument from design, it's not going to win any converts.
Re: From a philosopher (me)
Date: 2006-03-10 06:53 am (UTC)Re: From a philosopher (me)
Date: 2006-03-10 06:28 pm (UTC)