Tigran Melkonyan () (Department of Resource Economics, University of Nevada, Reno) Mark Pingle () (Department of Economics, University of Nevada, Reno)
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We examine the implications of decision theory for religious choice and evangelism, under the assumption that people choose their religion. The application of decision theory leads us to a broad definition of religion and a particular definition of faith, each related to the uncertainty associated with what happens to a person after death. We examine two extremes: total ambiguity and no ambiguity. For total ambiguity, we show there is “designer religion,” which is a religion that will capture all decision makers applying any one of the standard decision criteria. For no ambiguity, we characterize when a decision maker will find new religious information more valuable and we characterize a “miracle” in a specific way.
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Paper provided by University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Economics & University of Nevada, Reno , Department of Resource Economics in its series Working Papers with number
08-003.
Find related papers by JEL classification: C44 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Statistical Decision Theory; Operations Research D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information
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