A man has a machine with a button on it. If you press the button, there is a one in five million chance that you will die immediately; otherwise, nothing happens. He offers you some money to press the button once. What do you do? Do you refuse to press it for any amount? If not, how much money would convince you to press the button?
One in five million is pretty much your chance of dying from a car accident every five minutes that you're driving. Choosing to drive for five minutes is exactly equivalent to choosing to press the man's button. If you said you wouldn't press the button for fifty thousand dollars, then in theory if someone living five minutes away offers to give you fifty thousand dollars no strings attached, you should refuse the offer because you're too afraid to drive to zir house.He goes on to talk about the implications on healthcare.
I've believed in the limited value of human life for a long time. It's assumed in the standard economic analysis of risk, and the implications of believing otherwise leads to insane decisions. But what's remarkable about SlateStar is how well he articulates it.
