4 ms·
Although it may seem somehow unsavory, there is a long history of placing value on the probabilistic saving of human life (e.g. in highway engineering). We have
by Dave_Rosenthal 4y ago
Although it may seem somehow unsavory, there is a long history of placing value on the probabilistic saving of human life (e.g. in highway engineering). We have limited resources in the world to save lives and doing the math is better than the alternative.
- fwungy 4y agoThe value of a human life in engineering calculations is about $8M. Seems barbaric, but if you don't do it you have no way to stop adding safety measures to anything and thus cannot do anything.
- onecommentman 4y agoFor the US, that’s roughly correct. For one State in India, $640K. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life#India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life#India Although, given the expected lives saved from using modern agricultural equipment and practices instead of slash-and-burn for planting crops in the districts surrounding Delhi, I’m guessing the India number is a gross overestimate. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/11/25/delhi-the-worlds-most-air-polluted-capital-fights-back/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/11/25...