[ninenot]

Descartes wrote a cute little mathematical treatise on Catholicism, and wound up becoming one. After all the math and logic was done, it came down to something like this: "if you have any sense of 'odds,' JOIN THE CHURCH."

Or something like that.

[Qwinn]

I think the person you're referring to was Pascal, not Descartes.

And it's not even really mathematical. What he said was this.

If you believe in God and he doesn't exist, you were wrong but it doesn't matter.

If you don't believe in God and he doesn't exist, you were right but it doesn't matter.

If you don't believe in God and he does exist, you're in serious trouble.

If you believe in God and he exists, you were right and he'll take care of you.

Therefore, it's all upside and no downside to believing in God.

Personally, I hate it. I'm agnostic, and I would -like- to have faith, but I can't bring myself to practice over logic like this. There's just something very sleazy about the calculated self-interest involved.

Qwinn