The seventeenth century French philosopher Blaise Pascal once posited a now-famous argument for belief in the existence of god. He deduced that, although one can never be certain as to whether or not god actually exists, the rational course of action is to believe in god because even if you turn out to be wrong, you’ve sacrificed very little. On the other hand, if you wager against the existence of god and are proven wrong, the consequences will be dire. Perhaps recognizing the flaw in his own logic, Pascal later added an addendum, which stated that if you can’t bring yourself to truly believe in god, then you should at least live your life as though you do, and hopefully this will mitigate the risk of eternal damnation.
Pascal recognized that as much as someone might genuinely wish to believe something, actually bringing oneself to believe it is another matter entirely. This has been the primary criticism of Pascal’s wager. One can pretend to believe something, but in general, we aren’t free to choose what we believe. Just as the unattractive teenaged girl can’t will herself into believing she’s pretty in the hope that the increased self-esteem might make her more attractive and allay her psychic torment, the unbeliever can’t will himself to believe in god, even if the reward is an eternity in paradise. Therefore, to urge would-be infidels to spontaneously switch sides is, in essence, advocating intellectual dishonesty.
For most people this concept of immutable belief might seem bizarre and downright disturbing. After all, belief is often thought to be the one thing that we all have control over. Whereas our actions can be restricted by laws, or by a lack of wherewithal, belief is often thought to be the sole arena in which individuals can exercise total agency. Indeed, most jurisdictions have laws that are designed, in one way or another, to uphold our right to believe what we want, either in the form or freedom of speech, freedom of expression, or freedom of religion.
In many ways, the myth of belief as a choice is similar to the myth of free will. As much as we may wish to believe that we’re in control of our actions, the reality is that everything we do (and everything thought we formulate) is predetermined by the laws of physics and the state of the universe long before any of us is even conceived. Similarly, our beliefs are determined by our experiences, and our most formative experiences tend to happen at a period in our lives when we have very little control over them. In other words, our beliefs are determined almost entirely by outside factors and things over which we have no control. Given this hypothesis, the most rational course of action is to wager that, if there is a god and he has the power to determine our final destination, then hopefully he’ll also have the decency to refrain from punishing us for thought crimes over which we have no control.
