Dr. David DeSteno

And so, yes, there are lots of people who really don't believe in God.

There are lots of Jews who are atheists yet are deeply engaged in their practices.

And it tends to make life better.

So let me tell you why I think it's rational.

You can make a rational case to believe this.

So the thing you're hinting at comes from something called Pascal's wager, Pascal being one of the greatest mathematicians and philosophers.

And he argued that if God exists and you choose to believe in God, you can have everlasting life, right?

This is Pascal was Christian.

So this was the Christian God that we were talking about.

And he said, by nature of being born, you're forced into this bet.

You have to play the game.

Should you be religious or not?

Well, if there's a chance that you could have everlasting life in a pleasurable way, even the smallest chance of that outweighs any joy you'd have on earth.

So if you chose not to believe in God, yeah, you might have a more libertine lifestyle here.

But the joy you would gain from that pales in comparison.

And so it makes sense from a decision theory, right?

The expected value of happiness is larger if happiness is infinite.

And so Pascal said you should believe in God.

But people say, well, what if I believe the probability that there's everlasting life is zero?

Or what if I choose the wrong religion?