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Im not advocating sitting by idling. I just think it reflects our innate priorities when we put so much effort into extending our own lives when it doesn't take
by cconcepts 11y ago
Im not advocating sitting by idling. I just think it reflects our innate priorities when we put so much effort into extending our own lives when it doesn't take as much effort to greatly extend someone else's life who is less resourced than I am.
- melling 11y agoYou are talking in generalities. What is "so much effort?" If a hundred thousand people work on a problem and spend 10 billion dollars, for instance, are we really depriving the less resourced? The U.S. spends $60 billion on pet food. http://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp http://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp We spend billions on bottled water: http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2008/09/bottled_water_is_a_big_drain.html http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2008/09/bott... Shouldn't we drink tap water and use the money saved to get water to people in need?
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y agoWhat's my dog supposed to eat.
- cconcepts 11y agoAll reflections of a pretty weird state of affairs if I take a step back and try to look at things objectively. I guess achieving big strides in longevity for a wealthier few would just be an extension of the trend. Bill Gates had this to say: "It seems pretty egocentric while we still have malaria and TB for rich people to fund things so they can live longer. It would be nice to live longer though I admit" Not the authoritative word on the issue but interesting considering he has the opportunity to do either yet is focussing on malaria, TB etc
- melling 11y agoOne of the top charities in GivingWell is to help stop malaria. You should donate. Nets go a long way and they're really cheap. I bought 20 nets last year. We don't need Bill Gates for that, right? http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities By doing really difficult and expensive medical research over decades, we will discover many things that help many of the 7 billion people, increasing to 9 billion, on the planet. Knowledge isn't something that stays locked up forever, and which only rich people have access to it. Age related research will benefit over 10 billion people in this century. Most of us will get old.