Buy Minocycline Without Prescription, Pascal's wager has a long and ridiculous history among proselytizers, and the sheer stupidity of the argument is overwhelming and almost incomprehensible. Blaise Pascal, the original formulator of the argument, was no doubt a very intelligent man, and that is exactly why the argument itself seems so inexplicable. Of course, contemporary users of the argument have managed to pervert it even further, somehow distilling in it a maximal concentration of stupidity, and reducing the argument to the bare-bones rejoinder: But what if you're wrong.
Indeed, order Minocycline from mexican pharmacy, Minocycline over the counter, atheists and disbelievers, what if you're wrong? The usual response to this query is to list off the endless possibilities of our being wrong. Well, Minocycline in india, Minocycline from canadian pharmacy, if I'm wrong because the great Groo-Rom exists, who abhors people with blue eyes, purchase Minocycline online, Minocycline tablets, I am certainly fucked. And if I'm wrong because the flying spaghetti monster exists, with his inordinate fondness for pirates, order Minocycline online overnight delivery no prescription, Minocycline price, coupon, ninja-lovers like myself may find ourselves drowning in eternal spaghetti sauce. And if I'm wrong because Kal-El exists... And it is usually at this point that the theist interjects, screaming that this is not what he meant, Minocycline to buy, Where can i find Minocycline online, that what he meant to ask was not for a listing of all the logically possible ways an atheist could be wrong, but for the atheist to consider what would happen if the Christian religion in particular were correct. To which we only shake our heads. Oh, cod online Minocycline, Buy Minocycline online without a prescription, you mean that silly religion? I'm sorry, but Groo-Rom seems a bit more likely, buy Minocycline online no prescription, Where to buy Minocycline, though, as he isn't proclaimed morally perfect while at the same time commanding the murder of infants, over the counter Minocycline, Minocycline from international pharmacy, pregnant women, children (1 Samuel 15:3), buy generic Minocycline, Online buying Minocycline hcl, and fucking trees (Matthew 21:19). You'd think a deity secure in his omnipotence wouldn't feel the need to take out his wrath on shrubbery.
But the failings of the wager are huge and insurmountable. Even the most ardent theist who clings fervently to Pascal's wager as the basis of his belief would find himself rejecting it in other circumstances. For instance, buy Minocycline online without prescription, Buy Minocycline without a prescription, if I were to propose to the theist that magical unicorns who fart deadly rainbows were waiting at his workplace to pounce on him and smother him with their colorful and odorous emissions, it is doubtful that the theist would take any heed of this. If I went even further and proclaimed that these unicorn farts had the capacity to cause great suffering and had the magical power to sustain one indefinitely, buy cheap Minocycline no rx, Sale Minocycline, keeping them alive solely to suffer the great, colorful torments for eternity, Minocycline in usa, Minocycline paypal, the grand upscale in suffering being proposed would still not sway the theist. He would return to work without fear, barely worrying about any such creatures. But why? The wager applies just as well here. The untold suffering that awaits the theist by going to work and being tortured at the hands (or hooves) of these deplorable unicorns is infinite and surely surpasses whatever limited negatives would result from not showing up to work, online buy Minocycline without a prescription, Purchase Minocycline, quitting, and finding another job. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume the unicorns exist and cover your losses? Of course not, saturday delivery Minocycline, Minocycline in us, and the theist is quite reasonable to pay no heed to the potential consequences.
Ultimately, free Minocycline samples, Minocycline gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release, Pascal's wager as it is often formulated fails because it doesn't address probability or evidence in any legitimate sense. For instance, we can be relatively certain that not showing up to work or calling the boss with wild tales about homicidal unicorns would lead to the loss of one's job. However, buy no prescription Minocycline online, Purchase Minocycline online no prescription, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that any such unicorns exist, that there exists a mechanism by which a fart could sustain a life indefinitely and cause untold suffering (most of the suffering from farts is not untold, Minocycline overseas, Minocycline pills, but quite told), or that farts can indeed be rainbow-colored. When we make decisions, where can i buy cheapest Minocycline online, Buy Minocycline from canada, we don't just consider the consequences that could potentially result from every possibility. We also consider how probable those possibilities are to begin with. So while the fear of infinite punishment from unicorn farts is certainly very great, it is decidedly counteracted by the almost infinite improbability of such a thing even existing. We can't just assess consequences in the absence of any evidence, buy Minocycline from mexico. Cod online Minocycline, With God, there is much similarity to these unicorns. We have much reason to find God's existence improbable based upon his rather odd qualities (moral perfection combined with omnipotence and having rather exagerrated anger toward trees), over the counter Minocycline, Minocycline prices, as well as the lacking evidence of his existence. Of course, Pascal originally formulated his argument based upon the presumption that God's existence could not be assessed by observational evidence, buy Minocycline without prescription, Minocycline in india, and that is precisely the major point where his argument falls to pieces.
Because evidence is not necessary to make decisions in Pascal's scheme, purchase Minocycline online no prescription, Online buying Minocycline hcl, one could formulate any possibility and would be forced to take it seriously solely on the merits of the seriousness of its consequences, and not the likelihood of the consequences actually existing. We could conceive of Gods who reward skeptical thinking, buy no prescription Minocycline online, Where can i order Minocycline without prescription, who punish those who believe in Jesus, who give candy canes to child rapists, order Minocycline from United States pharmacy, Minocycline in uk, and so on and so forth. There is no longer any reason to privilege a Judeo-Christian deity as the default and do our calculations with such a conception as our basis. We may as well make room for the flying spaghetti monster and rainbow-farting unicorns if we need not concern ourselves with that pesky thing called evidence.
Clearly, saturday delivery Minocycline, Buy Minocycline online no prescription, though, a role for evidence is ever-present in such calculations, Minocycline to buy online, Minocycline in us, and that explains why theists don't fear farting unicorns when they go to work. The lacking evidence outweighs even an appeal to infinite punishment, because those appeals to infinite punishment are just one possibility among an infinite array of possibilities, buy Minocycline no prescription, Where to buy Minocycline, and we no longer have any basis to assume just one possibility should we forego evidence. In the end, Pascal's wager is the wager of one in a dark, Minocycline pills, Minocycline trusted pharmacy reviews, empty room who possesses neither the senses of sight, hearing, Minocycline price, coupon, Minocycline from international pharmacy, taste, touch, Minocycline in usa, Buy Minocycline online without a prescription, nor smell. Thankfully, though, Minocycline in australia, Next day Minocycline, we do possess senses and our universe is not a dark, empty room, Minocycline buy, Minocycline from canadian pharmacy, and we can incorporate evidence and prior probability into our calculations and decisions instead of stumbling about in the endless dark, fearing unicorns and Yahweh alike, delivered overnight Minocycline, and trembling at the awful fate awaiting trees and shrubs that should offend these wrathful entities.
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misanthrpope
28 December, 2008 at 8:34 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
pascal’s wager fails most obviously, for the same reason as aquintas’s most celebrated “proof”: it can be applied basically everywhere with equal validity, and doing so produces absurdity.
consider the small possibility that there is a bomb in your toaster. or anthrax in your flour! or a psycho with a knife hiding in your shower!
blaise pascal is one of the most overrated intellects in human history. he was not much for math, and his philosophy was good for nothing but providing voltaire with a target.
yahweh is less plausible than the tooth fairy. nobody believes that crap, and only the most odious of liars pretend to.
CAnn
28 December, 2008 at 9:13 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Just to specify Matthew 19:21 says nothing about fucking trees. It is an analogy regarding the Jewish Nation and it states only that Mark came upon a fig tree along side the road and that it was barren save for leaves. Because of this and the fact that he was probably hungry, he cursed it to remain as such forever. The following day said fig tree was dried and whithered. I am all for people and their possibilities. Just keep in mind that in order to successfully argue a point one needs to be up close and personal with the opposing one.
CAnn
28 December, 2008 at 9:17 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
However I went back and re-read your blog…and in the stance that I misunderstood your reasoning I will admit the possibility. If in fact you speak of “fucking” as screwing over and what did that tree ever do to you, I concer that it is a bit extreme. However I also need to state here that this story as others in the Bible are nothing more than analogies used to represent other, more important matters.
saintgasoline
29 December, 2008 at 12:12 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
CAnn, the word “fucking” is being used as an adjective, not a verb, in the sentence you speak of.
“…commanding the murder of infants, pregnant women, children (1 Samuel 15:3), and fucking trees (Matthew 21:19).”
As you can see, because there is no conjunction “and” preceding the word “children”, “fucking trees” is a phrase that continues the series listing off the things that God has commanded to be murdered. Had I said, “commanding the murder of infants, pregnant women, AND children, and fucking trees,” then the use of “fucking” would seem to be taking a verb form. “Fucking” is just one of those tremendously versatile words that you have to be careful about when reading!
So it is safe to say that though God is quite content with murdering trees and people alike, he at least has the decency not to force people to make love to them. I’ll give God one gold star for that good deed.
Ziztur
29 December, 2008 at 1:07 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
But Mark didn’t make the fucking tree shrivel. It was Jesus. It seems to be an act used to say that you will get what you pray for if you believe.
You’ll have to explain why this is an analogy regarding the Jewish Nation, because I don’t see it. Unless you mean that it is an analogy that the Jewish people can do anything if they have faith and do not doubt.
Ziztur
29 December, 2008 at 1:55 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I am reminded of Ray Comfort’s silly blog called “Atheist Central” which has on the right hand side a tongue-in-cheek guide for “beginner atheists”. Number 3 is:
“…When you hear that you have everything to gain and nothing to lose (the pleasures of Heaven, and the endurance of Hell) by obeying the Gospel, say ‘”That’s just the old ‘Pascal wager.’”…”
We are dismissive because Pascal’s Wager is so thoroughly and easily debunked.
Spencer
29 December, 2008 at 7:08 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Are you sure it’s an adjective, because to me that would seem to imply that it is a tree which fucks. That is to say; apple tree:apple::fucking tree:?
I think the more significant thing to take away from the parable is that a hungry Jesus, faced with a barren tree, chose to use his magic powers to make the tree perennially barren, rather than making it sprout fruit that he could eat. That’s some delicious fucking rationality right there.
mkvf
29 December, 2008 at 11:52 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’ve been listening to a jolly, bouncy, Jeffrey Lewis track (“Whistle past the graveyard”) today that has a nice answer to Pascal
Some say that life is empty, some say its meaningless
And some say it isn’t such a bad thing if it is
and some say im wrong and that i’ll go to hell
But i’d be happy just knowing that there was a point so its just aswell
some people assume that youll suffer there, they just think you’re selfish
if i was in hell id be glad knowing that other people are in heaven
it’d make it not so hellish
More lyrics
http://tinyurl.com/82jc8f
Radio session, with this at track 4: http://cloakanddaggermedia.com/radio/2007/04/sessions-jeffrey-lewis.html
I’d wildly speculate that a lot of religious belief is inspired by egoism, and to be happy to present itself as the selfish person’s choice. Atheists are far more likely to give a crap about other people and to be happy just to see others happy.
Auriel
21 September, 2009 at 2:46 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
All this stuff about the quote… yeesh. It’s a straw-man argument. It has nothing to do with the real argument overall…
toomanytribbles
21 September, 2009 at 4:38 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
i’m repeatedly amazed how easily people are willing to squander their time, resources — their entire lives — on the wholly unfounded idea that there may be some kind of god, living the only time they’ll ever have, impoverished of quality and wonder, expecting so little of themselves and of their lives.
ultimately, they’re throwing themselves away.