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Lumifer comments on Questions on Theism - Less Wrong Discussion

23 Post author: Aiyen 08 October 2014 09:02PM

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Comment author: Lumifer 15 October 2014 07:53:31PM 1 point [-]

With Pascal's Wager on the table

One major problem with Pascal's Wager (among others) is that it doesn't specify which god. It applies equally to worshiping Yahweh, Kali, and Huitzilopochtli -- and offers no guidance on how to choose between them.

Comment author: Aiyen 16 October 2014 08:35:50PM 1 point [-]

Right, but given a large body of Christian miracle accounts, the only two hypotheses that seem plausible are 1. Christianity is true or 2. Christianity is false, and nevertheless generates an extremely impressive body of miracle claims. Given 1. Pascal's Wager is obviously worth taking, and given 2. I can't see any reason to believe in any God. The Wager only works if there's some other reason to consider the belief to be reasonable, otherwise we'd all end up praying to the Tooth Fairy.

Comment author: Lumifer 16 October 2014 09:07:34PM 1 point [-]

generates an extremely impressive body of miracle claims

Keep in mind that Christianity was the dominant religion of the West for a very long time and it certainly had enough incentives to assert, promote, and otherwise, um, sanctify a large number of miracle claims. All strange and unexplained events (as long as they are beneficial) would be classified as miracles in a deeply Christian society.

Comment author: Toggle 15 October 2014 09:50:08PM 0 points [-]

And let's not forget the hypothetical Trickster God, omnipotent ruler of the universe that sends all people that believe in Him to hell, and everyone else goes to heaven. In other words, Pascal's wager coexists with its exact inverse.

But even without the wager on the table, I think we can safely agree that the question of God's existence is high-stakes.