Snagglepuss 4

Pascal's Wager
http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Pascal%27s_Wager

Look at that list of counter arguments.  Just look at it.  That's a lot of counter arguments.  Geez, you'd think you'd need just one, right?  Kinda looks like shooting in the dark, but instead of hoping you hit the target, you're hoping someone will be convinced the lights are on.

There's a reason Pascal's Wager has existed for so fucking long and been used so fucking much and there isn't a fucking counter argument to it.

It.  Is.  Simple.

Forget for a moment that we're talking about God or even Snagglepuss.  Let's just use a variable of X.  Here's Pascal's Wager:

I've got a box.  Inside it may or may not be X.  I'm going to lift the box and show you, but first you have to guess if X is under the box.
If you believe in X and X exists, you win $5,000.
If you believe in X and X doesn't exist, you lose nothing.
If you don't believe in X and X exists, you lose your computer.
If you don't believe in X and X doesn't exist, you lose nothing.

That's Pascal's Wager.  The box is lifted when you die, X is God, you win eternal happiness instead of $5,000 and get eternal torture instead of lose your computer.

The reason it's stood the test of time is it's just math.  Pascal was not some preacher.  He was a mathematician.  His wager isn't just the tool of Christians trying to do whatever it is atheists think they're trying to do to them.  Probability theory and decision theory and game theory and loads of other logic was influenced by it because it's true.

Check out the quotations on this page.  Pascal was all about measuring the uncertainty.  He wasn't Mr. Christian trying to convert heathens.  This is the logical thought process of a genius who considered both religion and atheism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager

Now, there are arguments that Pascal's Wager DOESN'T APPLY to the discussion of Snagglepuss's existence.  And there are very valid ones.  But you have to move beyond what Pascal's Wager is before you can apply them and then you're coming up with your own rules and it has nothing to do with his wager anymore.

Here's some valid points against using the wager for Snagglepuss.

1.  You don't lose nothing if you believe and he doesn't exist.  You lose time and energy and money that went to the church.
2.  There's no way to know that believing in him is enough to win.
3.  If he needs me to believe in him, he's not worthy of my belief.
4.  If he existed, he should tell me he exists and not make me wager.

My thoughts on those points are this.

1.  I don't think someone is belonging to a church they hate because of the fear of brimstone unless they're mentally ill.  People come out of church smiling pretty regularly.  It's a two hour weekly meeting where you see all your friends, feel good, sing, find out about community events, help the poor, help each other, and dress up in your Sunday best.  And the cover charge is an optional donation.  But that has nothing to do with whether Snagglepuss exists, so I don't really care about that point.
2.  If I told you pressing the tilde key (~) on your keyboard would save your life tomorrow, you'd think I was stupid.  If everyone told you that for thousands of years, it'd be more established and you'd think it was less stupid, but it would still be your choice.  We don't know what's going to save your life tomorrow.  Lots of people think pressing the tilde key will do it though.  Do you not press it based solely on the idea that you don't personally know it to be true?  This point usually means the person doesn't actually understand Pascal's Wager at all.  Because "option A" costs you nothing and wins you everything and "option B" costs you nothing and kicks you in the balls.  If someone is using this point, they are ignoring the "costs you nothing" part, which is really half the wager.
3.  Can you believe people say this one?  I'd like to see this in court.  "No, your honor, if the law needs me to believe I can't run a red light, it's not worthy of my belief."
4.  Again, the weird arrogance.

You know where it comes from, right?  When you declare "there is no God" you are also declaring "Whatever is the next rank down is now the ultimate being.  What's that?  It's me?  How delightful!"  It's important to swim with sharks, be crippled with illness, and get your ass kicked from time to time.  I speak from experience.  Forget God or Snagglepuss.  The idea that we are the pinnacle of anything is the pinnacle of ignorance.