Atheism and Religion in Deal or No Deal December 10, 2008

Atheism and Religion in Deal or No Deal

By Guest Contributor
December 10, 2008

Interesting: Deal or No Deal presented as an allegory to explain “why people cling to religion despite it making not a jot of difference to their lives.”

At random a contestant is selected – a Chosen One if you will. This Chosen One is convinced he has the best box in the room. He believes that his happiness lies within the box but in reality he won’t find out til the end of the game what exactly it is and by then it may be too late. The Chosen One may tell tales of hardship and how they hope this game will change their lives. None of this changes what is actually in the box he chose.

(via Nothing Going On but the Rent)

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  • Ugh, I can’t stand that show. The false drama irks me. There’s no drama there. You have a case with some amount, and the banker’s formula almost always generates some amount that’s a little better than the average of the remaining cases.

    Your best bet is to ride it to the end. There doesn’t need to be any drama. If you’re quick at arithmetic, you might spot a better place to drop out, but it’ll be near the end game.

    This is why I’d never get past the audition process. They select the most easily excitable people to play. Seriously, their contestants must jump up and down and scream every time the microwave dings.

  • Tyson

    You mean expected value, but I think this argument is slightly different. Sam Harris gives the idea about a woman who believes she has a massive diamond in her backyard, and then goes on to illustrate that how good the thought of the diamond makes you feel has no relevance as to its actual existence.

  • Duh-sciple

    As a person of faith- I would say that a “getting something out of the box at the end” is a fraudulent, fake, foolish, demonic, deadly faith. Christians see the fraud in the “72 virgins piety” while not seeing the “plank in their own eyes.” [It is human to be blind to one’s own blindness.]

    So… Any so-called faith that does not result in generosity, grace, mercy, forgiveness, love and sacrificial service toward others is crap. I give thanks for atheists who expose this fraud.

    Of course, where we differ is that there is such a thing as genuine faith.

    From one who is trying to follow Jesus regardless of whether there’s a “box at the end”

    Duh-sciple

  • Don Pope

    @t3knomanser:

    “Your best bet is to ride it to the end.”

    Not it’s not. If you watch the show a few times, you’ll notice that people start losing (and the offers start going down) after they reach the $250-$300K range.

    This game is cunningly designed so that only a complete moron can win the $1,000,000 (and that, only if he gets lucky).

  • Tao Jones

    I know someone who worked on the show when it came through Canada a year or so ago. The “banker” was a computer program that spewed out a number after every case was opened. The producers would take this number and raise it or lower it depending on whether or not they wanted to get rid of the contestant.