Longterm value of a single human life.

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Longterm value of a single human life.

2009-07-23 00:51:09

Macbeth: Banned; +2,444|5875

Was thinking about this before, in the Gulf War, Saddam's retreating army burned the oil fields.

Now if that were to happen in another war in the middle east oil prices would take a climb and overall hurt the economy as well as the war effort. Now what I was thinking is

1. "if it were possible to prevent the burning of said oil fields how many military lives are you as the general willing to sacrifice? 1, 10, 100, 1000 etc?"

2. Overall considering how easy it is to create human life, would the life of a single person really matter all that much in the greater scheme of things?

3. Would a single person be worth more then the largest gold mine, the most vast oil field, the deepest diamond mine?

4. At what value would you put the life of a stranger? Is there a number or object you would trade for their life or is it priceless?

2009-07-23 00:54:38

Ioan92: Member; +337|6012

Life is priceless, such as natural resources should be.

2009-07-23 01:56:37

Beduin: Compensation of Reactive Power in the grid; +510|6040|شمال

1. None. Let it burn, maybe ME will get peace. I will enjoy the view actually.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Priceless my friend.

الشعب يريد اسقاط النظام
...show me the schematic

2009-07-23 01:58:49

Little BaBy JESUS: m8; +394|6438|'straya

The only thing to me that is worth dying for is other people.

2009-07-23 02:15:19

Defiance: Member; +438|6960

Beduin wrote:
1. None. Let it burn, maybe ME will get peace. I will enjoy the view actually.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Priceless my friend.

Must agree. The sooner we see life as a tradable commodity, the sooner civilization will fall.

The idea that life has a price led to slavery, colonial wars, the raping of Africa, etc.

2009-07-23 02:45:37

Beduin: Compensation of Reactive Power in the grid; +510|6040|شمال

Defiance wrote:
Beduin wrote:
1. None. Let it burn, maybe ME will get peace. I will enjoy the view actually.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Priceless my friend.
Must agree. The sooner we see life as a tradable commodity, the sooner civilization will fall.

The idea that life has a price led to slavery, colonial wars, the raping of Africa, etc.

Freaking hate utilitarianism

الشعب يريد اسقاط النظام
...show me the schematic

2009-07-23 02:50:06

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6728|King Of The Islands

inb4 Blue Sky Mine and Garrett's seizure dance.

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

2009-07-23 02:58:15

Smithereener: Member; +138|6605|California

I'd like to say that life isn't a commodity or resource that can be simply traded in exchange for something else. And while a part of me still holds on to this, I can't deny the other part of me that says that if it benefits the lives of many more, what is one life to the welfare of many more? Do the ends justify the means? Again, I'd love to say yes to this, but this would of course completely change if that life in question was the life of someone I loved.

So in the end, I'll still hold to the belief that life is something that should not ever be a form of currency.

Maybe it's a bit selfish to think that way though.

2009-07-23 07:55:55

Krappyappy: 'twice cooked beef!'; +111|7109

regardless of what your sheltered western sensibilities tell you, the fact is that human life, like all life, is essentially worthless.

Macbeth wrote:
1. "if it were possible to prevent the burning of said oil fields how many military lives are you as the general willing to sacrifice? 1, 10, 100, 1000 etc?"

it depends, do i gain anything from saving the oil fields? if said oilfields are my main strategic objective, then all my resources, including the lives of my men, are expendable in order to achieve my objective.

Macbeth wrote:
2. Overall considering how easy it is to create human life, would the life of a single person really matter all that much in the greater scheme of things?

no, the life of a single person, or even a group of people, matters little. millions of people die everyday on this planet, for almost as many reasons. the world keeps turning and we keep wasting our lives posting on the internet.

Macbeth wrote:
3. Would a single person be worth more then the largest gold mine, the most vast oil field, the deepest diamond mine?

this question is almost comical. a cursory look into economic history will show you that any coal mine is responsible for killing large numbers of workers, nevermind diamond or gold. the life of a single person? the combined lost lives of hundreds of millions of workers hasn't been enough to stop people from going underground to mine for rocks.

Macbeth wrote:
4. At what value would you put the life of a stranger? Is there a number or object you would trade for their life or is it priceless?

the value of anyone to anyone else is a combination of two things: economic and sentimental. does this person benefit me in some way by being alive? do i like/love this person enough to miss him when he's gone? this is sufficient to describe almost any human relationship. if a person is not related to me in one of those two ways, then this person is essentially worthless to me.

2009-07-23 08:07:19

CameronPoe: Member; +2,925|6845

Macbeth wrote:
Was thinking about this before, in the Gulf War, Saddam's retreating army burned the oil fields.

Now if that were to happen in another war in the middle east oil prices would take a climb and overall hurt the economy as well as the war effort. Now what I was thinking is

1. "if it were possible to prevent the burning of said oil fields how many military lives are you as the general willing to sacrifice? 1, 10, 100, 1000 etc?"

2. Overall considering how easy it is to create human life, would the life of a single person really matter all that much in the greater scheme of things?

3. Would a single person be worth more then the largest gold mine, the most vast oil field, the deepest diamond mine?

4. At what value would you put the life of a stranger? Is there a number or object you would trade for their life or is it priceless?

1. 0. I'd cut military spending and increase spending on energy research.

2. Ask him/her.

3. Depends on the metric. I wouldn't kill someone to take ownership of a diamond mine for instance, that would be just crass. I'd kill someone in a fight for survival but not over items that are not required to simply remain alive.

4. Generally I don't care that much about strangers, unless there is some principle I hold important involved in the argument. So in reality I guess principles are more important to me than actual physical people I don't know. I do give to charity however so I don't completely not care.

Last edited by CameronPoe (2009-07-23 08:13:43)

2009-07-23 08:10:03

AussieReaper: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°); +5,761|6442|what

Let it burn.

Cheez wrote:
inb4 Blue Sky Mine and Garrett's seizure dance.

There'll be food on the table, tooo-niiieght!

2009-07-23 08:24:05

NooBesT: Pizzahitler; +873|6758

Macbeth wrote:
would the life of a single person really matter all that much in the greater scheme of things?

Greater scheme of things?

Like on the universal level?

2009-07-23 08:29:04

Hurricane2k9: Pendulous Sweaty Balls; +1,538|5991|College Park, MD

Krappyappy wrote:
the value of anyone to anyone else is a combination of two things: economic and sentimental. does this person benefit me in some way by being alive? do i like/love this person enough to miss him when he's gone? this is sufficient to describe almost any human relationship. if a person is not related to me in one of those two ways, then this person is essentially worthless to me.

you must be a blast at parties

In response to the last question, is the person a total stranger as in I know nothing about them? If so then there really isn't anything that I could receive that would justify taking his life. If he were a murderer or a rapist or something horrible like that though, then maybe a few thousand dollars.

https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/36793/marylandsig.jpg

2009-07-23 16:14:39

Turquoise: O Canada; +1,596|6695|North Carolina

The value of a human life is purely subjective as is the worth of a natural resource. There is no objective way to determine the value of either.

2009-07-23 17:45:58

imortal: Member; +240|6954|Austin, TX

There is a difference between valuing a person's life and placing a monetary or barter value on that same life.

For example. I value my life more than I value the life of a stranger. However, you can not pay me enough to end my life. I would say you could not pay me enough to end the life of a stranger, but I am a heartless bastard... you never know. But placing lives in comparison? I have said before and I will say again: I value human life in direct proportion to how close they are to me emotionally. I would lay waste to an entire ME or African villiage if doing so would save the life of my wife. I would not even think twice about it. Kill my neighbors to save my wife? You betcha. Now, would I kill my neighbors to save my work partner? Not so sure. Let them die, yes.

I told you I was a heartless bastard. The really fun part is that this is a question of morality. As such, there are no right or wrong answers; there is only differences of opinion.

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