Pragmatic Encroachment
Pragmatic encroachment describes how practical stakes influence what confidence is sufficient for action.
The Pattern
Pragmatic encroachment is the pressure practical stakes place on belief and assertion. If little depends on being wrong, moderate confidence may be enough for action. If much depends on being wrong, the same confidence may be inadequate.
The danger is sliding from "this confidence is not enough for action" to "the claim is not likely." Those are different judgments.
Credence vs Action Threshold
Credencing keeps the distinction visible. A person may assign 0.75 confidence while still refusing to act because the downside is too high. Or they may act on 0.55 because the cost of inaction is worse.
Repair
State both numbers: the confidence level and the action threshold. Much confusion dissolves when people say, "I think this is probably true, but not enough to act under these stakes."