Pascal Wager (Christianity in Mathematics) - David Asscherick _part 1

[lamase24]

Awesome Video!!!! Thanks, this helps the genuine seeker!

[dwolfcoach]

Nope, with all the Gods created by man, and most resting peacefully in that mass grave called mythology, when the monkey god Hamanu turns out to be the "right" god, you still lose. Just by chance you would be better off being a non-theist, then you just say there was no evidence so I was waiting to see some.

[dave28lax]

I do enjoy it when they can't pronounce French words correctly- pen-seas indeed, it's got a acute accent in there somewhere. And it's remarkably dumb to post this as a response to a video which cuts Pascal's wager to pieces.

[ERIZZLE4484]

What a huckster

[SoundzRite]

Yeah, let's flip a coin...

Ludicrous.

As much as I respect Pascal's brilliant contributions to mathematics, I would rather base the rest of my life on critical thinking.

[marknebo]

Belief isn't a choice... and if it were, and there were a God, he wouldn't be foolish enough to not see past your cover your ass belief... what a joke. This guy is a good speaker, but he is brainwashed just like the rest.

[3xamine]

On a scale from 1 to 10 (inclusive) I give this video 7 for the ethos (for invoking Pascal's name), 10 for the pathos (the preacher's charisma) and 1 for the logos of the argument. The video that this is a response to (Pascal's Wager Debunked) explains why the argument is weak. Sadly, the logical strength of an argument for god is usually the least important part to theists.

[theboombody]

@3xamine I believe in God myself, but I do not have a convincing argument why. Sorry. Perhaps this is why theists don't concentrate on it as much as you'd like. Their situation is similar to mine.

[christiancantarutti]

A wise man once said, "Here the ways of man divide: if you want to achieve peace of mind and happiness, choose faith. If you want to be a disciple of truth, then search". Perhaps this is the true wager?

[theboombody]

@christiancantarutti I wonder why truth is such a big deal anyway. Falsehoods can be enjoyable as well.

[3xamine]

@theboombody I'd like to reply for myself and christiancantarutti. To an extent, preferring truth to falsehood is a matter of personal choice; I think it's perfectly fine to believe whatever you want. However, a person's actions affect other people, and truth is necessary to determine how this should happen (ethics).

[theboombody]

@3xamine Well, it would be hard to convince a Borg with that argument. A Borg would simply say, "Truth is irrelevant. Ethics is irrelevant. Actions affecting other people are irrelevant. You will be assimilated." They're practically nihilists, except for their goal of assimilating technology. But you know, why are they not allowed to believe in such a tasteless way if no one can stop them? You think they'd want to fall in line with your ethics? Not if it meant less assimilation.

[3xamine]

@theboombody Yes, "Why be ethical?" is a good question. It probably wouldn't convince a human with that <500 word argument, and I probably wouldn't try to convince the borg for other reasons. Humans are a little different. Not only are we hard-wired with some sense of ethical responsibility, but how we affect other people affects ourselves (I'd think this would be relevant to any sentient being).

[theboombody]

@3xamine So you think some form of conscience has evolved into our brains as a mechanism to enhance the survival of our species? That seems reasonable. But I do have another question. Why is survival of a species important? Would the universe really care if it were totally barren of life?

[3xamine]

@theboombody The survival of a species, i.e. humans, is only important because it happens to exist and only because of the nature of its existence. Or, let me ask you. Would you rather kill yourself or continue living & propagating? I doubt that the universe "cares". In fact, most species that we know existed at one point haven't survived. That we see life can be pretty well explained by the anthropic principle. (Who knows how many non-life-bearing universes there are out there?)

[theboombody]

@3xamine Well all that's neat, but it gives me even less incentive to discover truth than I had in the first place. Especially since it's so much easier to discover false alternate universes than true ones.

[3xamine]

@theboombody I would feel like a failure if I had been trying to give you incentive to "discover truth." Fortunately, your delusion will affect you much more than it affects me. Nice chatting with you, Internet person.

[theboombody]

@3xamine Nothing wrong with delusions. Both of us agreed on that.

[MrBlackwit]

The god of Leviticus 26 = Hitler.

If this guy would've learned what he was worshipping before he worshipped it (which never happens.. proving how ignorant the whole thing is), he MIGHT not come off as being totally and completely wrong.

[1Magdelena]

Yes! More sermons!!!! I've been waiting, because Pastor Asscherick has helped me return to my SDA roots. He is soooo well spoken and articulate.