The premises of Pascal’s wager are normally presented as abstract facts about the universe—there happens to (maybe) be a god, who happens to have set up the afterlife for the suffering of unbelievers.
But, assuming we ever manage to distinguish trade from extortion, this seems a situation of classical extortion. So if god follows a timeless decision theory—and what other kind of decision theory would it follow? - the correct answer would seem to be to reject the whole deal out of hand, even if you assume god exists.
Or, in other words, respond to a god that offers you heaven, but ignore one that threatens you with hell.
[Stub] Extortion and Pascal’s wager
The premises of Pascal’s wager are normally presented as abstract facts about the universe—there happens to (maybe) be a god, who happens to have set up the afterlife for the suffering of unbelievers.
But, assuming we ever manage to distinguish trade from extortion, this seems a situation of classical extortion. So if god follows a timeless decision theory—and what other kind of decision theory would it follow? - the correct answer would seem to be to reject the whole deal out of hand, even if you assume god exists.
Or, in other words, respond to a god that offers you heaven, but ignore one that threatens you with hell.