In short it's a decision matrix that says believing in god is a better choice than not believing in god. Being an atheist I have to admit it's about the most convincing argument I've ever seen, largely because it's purely logical. Here is the short of it:
God exists------God does not exist Wager for God-------Gain all--------Satus quo Wager against God---Misery----------Status quo
The problem with Pascal's wager is that it assumes there is one and only one God, and that by not believing in him/her/it you are bound for Hell and by believing in him/her/it you are not bound for Hell.
Suppose there are two or more Gods and you believe, but you believe in the wrong one?
Also, how can you "make yourself believe" something? You believe based upon what information you have, nothing more, nothing less. Something either makes sense and is believable or it does not and is not.
This immediately brought to mind Pascal's Wager (Score:3, Interesting)
God exists------God does not exist
Wager for God-------Gain all--------Satus quo
Wager against God---Misery----------Status quo
Read all about it here. [stanford.edu]
Please excuse the horrible formatting, I suck at html.
Re:This immediately brought to mind Pascal's Wager (Score:4, Insightful)
Suppose there are two or more Gods and you believe, but you believe in the wrong one?
Also, how can you "make yourself believe" something? You believe based upon what information you have, nothing more, nothing less. Something either makes sense and is believable or it does not and is not.
Re:This immediately brought to mind Pascal's Wager (Score:2)
Thus concludes the lesson: God is Evil and wishes you to be an Idiot. Now donate to my campaign bitch.
Re:This immediately brought to mind Pascal's Wager (Score:2)
God is Stupid
Because he can be "tricked" by a simple 2x2 matrix calculation.
Me to god: h4r h4r n00b STFU