Oscar Wilde once wrote that “people nowadays know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” I can see a particular type of uncharitable EA-critic say the same about our movement, grossed out by how we try to put a price tag on human (or animal) lives. This is wrong.
What they should be appalled by is if a life was truly worth$3500, but that’s not what we are claiming. The claim is that a life is invaluable. The world just happens to be in such a way that we can buy this incredibly precious thing for the meager cost of a few thousand.
Nate Sores has written about this in greater detail here.
Oscar Wilde once wrote that “people nowadays know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” I can see a particular type of uncharitable EA-critic say the same about our movement, grossed out by how we try to put a price tag on human (or animal) lives. This is wrong.
What they should be appalled by is if a life was truly worth $3500, but that’s not what we are claiming. The claim is that a life is invaluable. The world just happens to be in such a way that we can buy this incredibly precious thing for the meager cost of a few thousand.
Nate Sores has written about this in greater detail here.