Pascal’s Wager Tristan Ford, Hasquilla Cauchon & Wisam Fares

The Wager  During the 17 th century, Blaise Pascal brought forward three wagers.  His most famous, yet most infamous one stated- “If you wrongly believe in God, you lose nothing (death is the absolute end)  Whereas if you correctly believe in God, you gain everything (eternal bliss).  But if you correctly disbelieve in God, you gain nothing (death ends all)  Whereas if you wrongly disbelieve in God, you lose everything (eternal damnation).”  Therefore, you must choose and make a wager… Does God exist or not?

The Wager (continued)  Basically, Pascal was suggesting that you should believe in God.  If you are wrong, you have nothing to lose.  But if you are right, you have everything to gain.  The wager was criticized many times. François-Marie Arouet (Pen name Voltaire) was the first to go against Pascal, saying that his ideas were childish and immature.

The Triangle  Pascal is also famous for perfecting Pascal’s Triangle as it was later renamed.  The general view of the triangle is called Pascal’s Simplices.  And the Three Dimensional Version is called Pascal's Pyramid.  When using the triangle, each number in the triangle is the sum of the two directly above it.  It goes on forever and always with no end because the numbers never end.  Although he perfected it, the Chinese were the first to use it.

The Triangle!

Pascal  Blaise Pascal was born a Christian on June 19 th, 1623 in France.  He set his famous/infamous wager involving God during the 17 th century.  And During the final years of his life, he developed the first working bus line.  He died on August 19 th, 1662 at the age of 39 with the final words, “May God always be with me.”

Random Facts Geometry was Pascal’s favorite subject throughout his life. He invented the calculator (Then called a mechanical adding machine). And the reason was to help his father with taxes. He created the casino game, Roulette.

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