> The best way I can engage with this is asking a question in return: is someone who crosses the street safely "smarter" than someone who wanders into traffic a

> The best way I can engage with this is asking a question in return: is someone who crosses the street safely "smarter" than someone who wanders into traffic and dies? Well, given that wandering into traffic likely causes some sort of pain and is a terrible way to end a life, I'd say it's not a smart choice in most situations. If the goal for a person is to die, e.g. because they're in terrible pain, then there are usually smarter (more reliable, less painful, less harmful to others, ...) options available. But of course, there are likely situations, where crossing the street hastily is a smart choice, e.g. when you're being chased by something even more dangerous. Otherwise ... > If we think the survivor is smarter, then we can ask your question in another way: "why is it smart to wish to live another day?" You can only accumulate pleasure and good experiences if you stay alive. Hence staying alive is a smart choice if the chances of having good experiences is high enough and the chances of having lots of terrible experiences is low enough.