Why long-term climate choices are hard to make – a philosopher explains

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A philosophical puzzle can help explain why some people and governments aren’t acting quickly enough to tackle climate change.

In 1990, American philosopher Warren Quinn posed the puzzle of the self-torturer. Imagine you’ve had an electrical device fitted to you. It has a dial, and every week you’re offered £10,000 to turn that dial up a notch. Doing this causes a tiny but permanent increase in electrical current flowing through your body, an increase you either can’t or can barely feel.