The Fundamental Question

MBlume

It has been claimed on this site that the fundamental question of rationality is "What do you believe, and why do you believe it?".

A good question it is, but I claim there is another of equal importance. I ask you, Less Wrong...

What are you doing?

And why are you doing it?

It has been claimed on this site that the fundamental question of rationality is "What do you believe, and why do you believe it?".

A good question it is, but I claim there is another of equal importance. I ask you, Less Wrong...

What are you doing?

And why are you doing it?

I haven't yet seen an answer to Pascal's Wager on LW that wasn't just wishful thinking. In order to validly answer the Wager, you would also have to answer Eliezer's Lifespan Dilemma, and no one has done that.

I'm pretty sure Peer meant the original version of Pascal's Wager, the argument for Christianity, which has the obvious answer, "What if the Muslims are right? or "What if God punishes us for believing?"

0[anonymous]16y

The standard answer is "But what if the Muslims are right?" You can't be both a Christian and a Muslim, and you lose by guessing wrong. We have no more reason to believe we'll be rewarded for believing in God X than we have to believe we'll be punished for believing in God X, as we would be if God Y were the correct one.

2PeerInfinity16y

Can you please remind me what the question is, that you're looking for an answer to? And can you please provide a link to an explanation of what Eliezer's Lifespan Dilemma is?

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The Fundamental Question

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The Fundamental Question

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