“One day we … may have the luxury of going to any length in order to prevent a fellow sentient mind from being condemned to oblivion unwillingly. If we ever make it that far, the worth of a life will be measured not in dollars, but in stars.
“That is the value of a life. It will be the value of a life then, and it is the value of a life now.
“So when somebody offers $10 to press that button, you press it. You press the hell out of it. It’s the best strategy available to you; it’s the only way to save as many people as you can. But don’t ever forget that this very fact is a terrible tragedy.
“Don’t ever forget about the gap between how little a life costs and how much a life is worth. For that gap is an account of the darkness in this universe, it is a measure of how very far we have left to go.”
“One day we … may have the luxury of going to any length in order to prevent a fellow sentient mind from being condemned to oblivion unwillingly. If we ever make it that far, the worth of a life will be measured not in dollars, but in stars.
“That is the value of a life. It will be the value of a life then, and it is the value of a life now.
“So when somebody offers $10 to press that button, you press it. You press the hell out of it. It’s the best strategy available to you; it’s the only way to save as many people as you can. But don’t ever forget that this very fact is a terrible tragedy.
“Don’t ever forget about the gap between how little a life costs and how much a life is worth. For that gap is an account of the darkness in this universe, it is a measure of how very far we have left to go.”
- Nate Soares, The Value of a Life
Another one from this post:
”There may well come a day when humanity would tear apart a thousand suns in order to prevent a single untimely death.
That is the value of a life.”