Editing Doomsday Clock (section)

== Criticism ==
In 2016, [[Anders Sandberg]] of the [[Future of Humanity Institute]] has stated that the "grab bag of threats" currently mixed together by the Clock can induce paralysis.<ref>{{cite news|title=Is the Doomsday Clock Still Relevant?|url=https://www.livescience.com/53801-doomsday-clock-relevance.html|access-date=January 29, 2018|work=[[Live Science]]|date=February 24, 2016|archive-date=November 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102194713/https://www.livescience.com/53801-doomsday-clock-relevance.html|url-status=live}}</ref> People may be more likely to succeed at smaller, incremental challenges; for example, taking steps to prevent the accidental detonation of nuclear weapons was a small but significant step towards avoiding nuclear war.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last1=Chan|first1=Sewell|author1-link=Sewell Chan|title=Doomsday Clock Is Set at 2 Minutes to Midnight, Closest Since 1950s|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/world/americas/doomsday-clock-nuclear-scientists.html|access-date=January 29, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2018|archive-date=January 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104070343/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/world/americas/doomsday-clock-nuclear-scientists.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Alex Barasch in ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' argued that "putting humanity on a permanent, blanket high-alert isn't helpful when it comes to policy or science" and criticized the ''Bulletin'' for neither explaining nor attempting to quantify their methodology.<ref name="slate"/>

[[Cognitive psychology|Cognitive psychologist]] [[Steven Pinker]] harshly criticized the Doomsday Clock as a political stunt, pointing to the words of its founder that its purpose was "to preserve civilization by scaring men into rationality". He stated that it is inconsistent and not based on any [[objectivity (science)|objective]] indicators of security, using as an example its being farther from midnight in 1962 during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] than in the "far calmer 2007". He argued it was another example of humanity's tendency toward historical pessimism, and compared it to other predictions of self-destruction that went unfulfilled.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pinker |first1= Steven |author1-link=Steven Pinker |title= Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin |isbn= 978-0-14-311138-2 |pages= 308–11 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=R5KADwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

Conservative media outlets have often criticized the ''Bulletin'' and the Doomsday Clock. Keith Payne wrote 2010 in the ''[[National Review]]'' that the Clock overestimated the effects of "developments in the areas of nuclear testing and formal arms control".<ref>{{cite news|title=Precision Prediction|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/228975/precision-prediction-keith-b-payne|access-date=January 29, 2018|work=[[National Review]]|date=January 18, 2010|archive-date=January 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125081901/https://www.nationalreview.com/2010/01/precision-prediction-keith-b-payne/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, Tristin Hopper in the ''[[National Post]]'' acknowledged that "there are plenty of things to worry about regarding climate change", but states that climate change is not in the same league as total nuclear destruction.<ref name="national post">{{cite news|title=Why the Doomsday Clock is an idiotic indicator the world's media should ignore|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/why-the-doomsday-clock-is-an-idiotic-indicator-the-worlds-media-should-ignore|access-date=January 29, 2018|work=[[National Post]]|date=January 25, 2018|archive-date=June 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602125828/https://nationalpost.com/news/world/why-the-doomsday-clock-is-an-idiotic-indicator-the-worlds-media-should-ignore|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, some critics accuse the ''Bulletin'' of pushing a political agenda.<ref name= "nyt"/><ref name="national post"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doomsday-clock-destroying-civilization-scientists-president-trump/|work=CBS News|access-date=January 29, 2018|date=January 26, 2017|archive-date=December 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203183528/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doomsday-clock-destroying-civilization-scientists-president-trump/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/the-doomsday-clock-measures-liberal-angst-not-global-risk/|title=The Famed 'Doomsday Clock' Is Little More Than A Liberal Angst Meter|newspaper=[[Investor's Business Daily]]|date=January 25, 2019|access-date=September 26, 2020|archive-date=December 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229131818/https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/the-doomsday-clock-measures-liberal-angst-not-global-risk/|url-status=live}}</ref>