Or perhaps the person "burning the midnight oil" will come up with an innovation that will save even more lives, and which is only possible by a single person p

Or perhaps the person "burning the midnight oil" will come up with an innovation that will save even more lives, and which is only possible by a single person putting in the mental effort. I don't have a strong opinion on this issue, IMO it's too complicated and subjective to feel confident in any particular stance. There's no question in my mind that entrepreneurs taking larger personal risks are more motivated to make things work, but whether that translates to a net positive or not? Who knows?