Editing Pascal's wager (section)

=== Climate change ===

Since at least 1992, some scholars have analogized Pascal's wager to decisions about [[climate change]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Orr | first1 = D. W. | year = 1992 | title = Pascals wager and economics in a hotter time | journal = Ecological Economics | volume = 6 | issue = 1| pages = 1–6 | doi = 10.1016/0921-8009(92)90035-q | bibcode = 1992EcoEc...6....1O }}</ref> Two differences from Pascal's wager are posited regarding climate change: first, climate change is more likely than Pascal's God to exist, as there is scientific evidence for one but not the other.<ref>{{cite news |first=Green |last=Nathan |date=July 3, 2012 |title= How to bet on climate change |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/jul/03/climate-change-pascal-wager |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=May 25, 2020}}</ref> Secondly, the calculated penalty for unchecked climate change would be large, but is not generally considered to be infinite.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van der Ploeg |first1=Frederick |last2=Rezai |first2=Armon |title=The agnostic's response to climate deniers: Price carbon! |journal=European Economic Review |date=January 2019 |volume=111 |pages=70–84 |language=en |doi=10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.08.010|s2cid=158123994 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:38033b72-ccde-4b67-b115-38644394e7b1 }}</ref> Magnate [[Warren Buffett]] has written that climate change "bears a similarity to Pascal's Wager on the Existence of God. Pascal, it may be recalled, argued that if there were only a tiny probability that God truly existed, it made sense to behave as if He did because the rewards could be infinite whereas the lack of belief risked eternal misery. Likewise, if there is only a 1% chance the planet is heading toward a truly major disaster and delay means passing a point of no return, inaction now is foolhardy."<ref>{{cite web |last=Buffet |first=W. |date=February 27, 2016 |title=To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. |url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2015ltr.pdf |publisher=Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. |access-date=May 25, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Oyedele |first1=Akin |title=Warren Buffett on global warming: 'This issue bears a similarity to Pascal's Wager on the Existence of God.' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-on-climate-change-2016-2 |access-date=25 February 2020 |work=Business Insider |date=2019}}</ref>