Edited by author 02-16-2005 05:44 AM
Reviewing my original blog posting, I realize it is open to misinterpretation as an invitation for debate. Sigh.

On the subject of "what if you're wrong ...?", all I have to say on the matter is that Pascal's Wager is addressed very effectively by the Many Gods argument ("if there is an afterlife run by some deity or deities, how do you know that the one you decided to believe in is the right one"), and in any event I find the simulation argument much harder to argue against than ancient religious traditions that require a willing suspension of disbelief.

Randy: I don't see any reason to believe humans have souls, either (at least, not in the sense of a persistent immaterial essence that survives the death of the body). That doesn't mean it's acceptable to be cruel to the neighbours, though.