The Pi Wager

“If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.”- Blaise Pascal

In Blaise Pascal’s The Wager, Pascal urges the readers to make a decision, or at least evaluate the options, on believing if God is real. This wager didn’t make too much sense until I watched the film, Life of Pi. In the film Life of Pi, Pi Patel is a older man who recounts his tragic experience at sea. During this experience, Pi was the sole human survivor of a shipwreck. His mother died. His father died. Pi and four other animals survived the wreck. As time progressed, Pi and a bengal tiger only remained. Eventually, the boat landed on a Mexican beach and both parted their ways. When Pi was found on the beach, he was asked what happened while at sea. Pi gave two distinct accounts about what happened, and I believe it is up to the viewer to decide what they think happened.

If they believe that there was no divine interference, then they believe Pi’s second account. Maybe Pi was delusional and traumatized from the experience, and he was just trying to cope with the experience by using animals as symbols for something greater.

OR

If they believe that there was divine interference, then they believe Pi’s first account. Maybe Pi did experience everything he claimed.

Personally, I believe that Pi experienced a divine interference, but that’s my wager.