When given a Pascal’s Wager, you frequently get more information when you answer with a Pascal’s Wager in the opposite direction.
“Wow, that’s amazing. But how could you know the difference between Grandma sending you hugs and kisses, and Azathoth attempting to turn you into a blood-monger to force you to go on a killing spree? I mean, his soul is a googleplex to the googleplex more powerful, so shouldn’t it be more likely he’d get to you first across the dimensions?”
You at least get them to admit their priors as to why a particular wager was raised to their attention. Then they give you reasons that they find acceptable to dismiss a Pascal’s Wager. Those same reasons tend to work on their wager as well, since you built your wager to be logically symmetric to theirs.
“Wow, I’m not sure I could tell from listening to tapping spoons whether they were the ghost of my grandmother or just some random haunting, maybe an ancient murder victim’s ghost. How could I tell the difference?”
When given a Pascal’s Wager, you frequently get more information when you answer with a Pascal’s Wager in the opposite direction.
“Wow, that’s amazing. But how could you know the difference between Grandma sending you hugs and kisses, and Azathoth attempting to turn you into a blood-monger to force you to go on a killing spree? I mean, his soul is a googleplex to the googleplex more powerful, so shouldn’t it be more likely he’d get to you first across the dimensions?”
You at least get them to admit their priors as to why a particular wager was raised to their attention. Then they give you reasons that they find acceptable to dismiss a Pascal’s Wager. Those same reasons tend to work on their wager as well, since you built your wager to be logically symmetric to theirs.
While a good idea in general, I find it even harder to frame in a non-criticizing way. “You compared my dear granny to what???”
“Wow, I’m not sure I could tell from listening to tapping spoons whether they were the ghost of my grandmother or just some random haunting, maybe an ancient murder victim’s ghost. How could I tell the difference?”