monetary value of human life? (1 Viewer)

[MoonlightSonata]

Insurance perhaps?

Though, it's probably better to apply a subjective standard. Assuming that human life has a value, different people will have a different value. We aren't communists.

If it has a value... then yes I suppose different values should be appropriated.. it depends on what the purpose of this all is though!

 

[neo o]

If it has a value... then yes I suppose different values should be appropriated.. it depends on what the purpose of this all is though!

As I said, insurance .

Person X died, he's worth Z amount of money, here you go widow Y.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

you cant place a value on any form of life. well, i guess you can, but the point is that once its gone theres no replacement model, no coming back - so your money wont do you much good will it?you cant just hand over 6.1 million and expect to get your dead mother back. i guess you could sell her for that much though...hmmm. maybe i could start a people - store. or not.

 

[Xayma]

As I said, insurance .

Person X died, he's worth Z amount of money, here you go widow Y.

Except that the amount they are worth is calculated based on a premium, with the likelyhood of dying being factored in.

 

[Slidey]

This world we live in necessitates that we implicitly place value on human life. We wouldn't be able to function otherwise, really - this isn't 'Utopia'.

 

[walrusbear]

woah argonaut and tully, you two are fucking losers

chill down

 

[angelduck]

exactly, sheesh

 

[iamsickofyear12]

For me the life of a person I don't know is worth nothing, then the life of people I know but aren't friends with is worth something, friends are worth more than that and family is worth the most.

So if I figure there are 500 people that are actually worth something to me (which is a lot more than there would be) and approximately 6 billion worth nothing then even with a really high value for the people that are worth something the average will be really low. It wouldn't be anywhere near $6.1 million.

 

[Xayma]

So the farmers who grow your food are worth nothing to you? What about those in South Asia who manufacture your sneakers?

 

[iamsickofyear12]

So the farmers who grow your food are worth nothing to you? What about those in South Asia who manufacture your sneakers?

As a whole they are worth something, but individually or as a small group they are worth nothing.

 

[Pixydust*]

i totally disagree with the concept of putting a monetary value on human life - actually existing and living - life experience, is intangible. Its not possible to realise a number on the hapiness, sadness, greif, pain, love and other feelings we experience in life - we are all creations of God and i'm sorry, in my opinion its just wrong to believe we can be exchanged for money which in essense means material goods.

 

[Pixydust*]

Back on topic -

This is a hard question. What do you do when your kid is held for ransom for a certain amount of money? I guess in that instance, you're willing to place a monetry value on somebodys head, because you're willing to pay the money for the person. Meanwhile, if you're the kidnapper, you're putting a price on somebodys head for your own gain.

Oh...except my brother.

The whole idea of people abducting others and putting and holding them for a ransom comes from the agreement that we will pay anything for life because it is invaluable, don't you think? As low as it is, people hold others ransom because they know people are willing to pay anything to get their loved one back.

 

[loquasagacious]

The insurance question is essentially an economic one:

What is the oppurtunity cost of having someone dead, what is the value of all the things they could have done if they were alive.

So the intial question is flawed in that the value that one person let us call them A, can render to various people varies.

For instance to their spouse B, they are the breadwinner so their value is their salary till retirement, the money saved by A doing stuff around the house so that a contractor doesn't have to be hired, the money saved by A giving a lift as opposed to B having to get a taxi, the cost to B for counselling to deal with A's loss. In addition to the emotional loss of a soulmate (which in my estimation can not be given a monetary value except insofar as the time that it takes to get over the loss can be valued).

In this way every of the 1 billion B's in the world will value their A to differing ammounts.

Further to this to the company (C) that A worked for their death represents a loss of investment in recruitment and training. And a loss of future revenue that may have been derived from their employment. A's value is also added to for C by the ammount it costs to replace A, by the lost productivity of a grieving workplace.

To As parents (P) A's loss is worth emotional grief etc as for B however in addition As loss is added to by how A would have been able to support them in old age and infirmity.

To the world the cost is what they might have done if they were alive, sure for cancer etc etc.

In short it is incredibly complex to determine the value of one persons existence, and there is no constant value as it varies with the loss to others that will be incurred by their death so it varies with circumstance - from here it would be possible to reach the sickening conclusion that the lives of the rich are worth more than those of the poor. So complex and morally dubious is the process of determining an approximate value that it precludes trying to except in the most rudimentary manner.

On the other hand the entire cost of obtaining all the chemicals (in the correct ammounts) that make up the human body is (from memory) under a $1. On the flip side we could value a person on how much it costs to manufacture a new one - currently an impossible feat though.

 

[neo o]

On the other hand the entire cost of obtaining all the chemicals (in the correct ammounts) that make up the human body is (from memory) under a $1. On the flip side we could value a person on how much it costs to manufacture a new one - currently an impossible feat though.

I doubt it, there's more than one bottle of mount franklin in a human.

 

[Xayma]

Neo_o we both know the average person isn't filled with the quality of Mt Franklin water. More along the lines of Minamata bay water quality (note not Minamata bay water, all that mercury isn't cheap now).

 

[iambored]

of course there is no monetary value for human life
that's why it's a joke when people get pay outs for huge accidents, like a lady did that was on the news recently, there is no monetary value for the ability of being able to walk, talk, see and so on.

 

[HellVeN]

Well I believe that there is. Money can buy you human life. Ever heard of slaves?

 

[townie]

i dont think the method for coming up with that number is very scientific, if i remember correctly, he surveyed americans, and the average price people would expect to be paid $610 extra for a 1 in a something or chance of dying in that job. now, 1) i dont think that equates 2 the value people place on a life 2) even if it did, it's the price they put on their one life. i'm of the view people value the people they love more highly than themselves, i certainly do.

u can place a monetary value on a person, but not a catch-all value. u could create a value for wat that person is worth to SOCIETY but i dont think u could apply that value to that persons friends and families

 

[HellVeN]

Don't you worry Townie, Bruce Willis will save us all.