Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ToonyMan]

Serious discussion here, what value is Life?

Last period today in History we were working when I saw a fly on a nearby desk, I slam my hand down on it killing the fly in the process.  My teacher noticed and asked why'd I take a life away...

I justified my reason because a fly isn't important, but could you apply the same to Humans?  You couldn't because that would be injustice.

Let's make this a bigger deal with another example I have.

You know the Holocaust, right?  They are still arresting guys that are responsible for the Holocaust.  These 80, 90 old dudes that have already lived their lives and got away are finally being arrested, I'm not sure how to comment, but I mean...why?  Their life is over they have lived their lives.  Why would you even bother arresting them?  Sure their crime was hideous and everything, but they got away!  They have on average another 5 or so years to live and they won't even be doing anything.

You have an opinion on what value is Life?

[Virex]

I don't know, but I guess bout $75.000 for a cheap gunman, maybe triple that for a high-profile target and a professional assassin?

[DJ]

According to a war-time song over here, 200 DEM (100€).

[sonerohi]

Life has only as much value as is placed upon it by the people capable of enforcing the prices.

[nenjin]

Life is a lot of things

I dunno, but I default to a grimdark answer. Life is a struggle, on all levels. Emotionally, morally, psychologically, spiritually, physically, politically, sociologically, economically....it's a giant swirling pool of choices and outputs, good and bad. Struggles don't have to be dark and unpleasant, but they usually are.

The fly lost, and you lost (or won) by your decision to kill it, depending on your victory conditions. All life is made of choices, and the process of living is dealing with the consequences.

As for the holocaust....I think it isn't necessarily individual justice that the courts seek. I think it's a continued rejection of the worst parts of human belief and action, an ongoing reminder of what we can and will devolve into without constant vigilance. When the last Nazi war criminal is found or dies of old age, I imagine the courts will take up another semi-endless cause. They're prosecuting the values that defined the Nazi regime at this point, and less the individual guilty of doing a thing. (Genocide, racial and genetic superiority, blind obedience to the state, the mob mentality.)

Life has only as much value as is placed upon it by the people capable of enforcing the prices.

That's a pretty good one. Where were you in the torture/good vs. evil debate!

[sonerohi]

 ^ Sorry, had to use the loo.

[ed boy]

Ideally, you'd value the life of each person at the total output (be it in physical product or intangible things, such as happiness) of the person experienced by both themselves and others minus the total costs (be it in physical product or intanglible things, such as unhappiness) of keeping them alive.

You would kill them off as soon as Value+cost of killing method<0.

Of course, quantifying these things is impossible, so we have to approximate.

[Solifuge]

When I have insects in my home, like spiders or centipedes, I generally leave them be, or sometimes take them outside if guests are worried about being bitten. However, I will kill mosquitos, since they are preying on me, and can spread disease in so doing.

I value the lives of animals highly, and provided one doesn't cause or intend harm, I leave them be. I would fight and potentially kill one to defend my life, happiness, or safety. I'm fine with hunting and killing animals as well, provided it's done to strengthen the life of something or someone else. I believe that killing, done respectfully and for the purpose of survival, is justifiable.

I don't believe in killing as punnishment, because the harm has already been done... to add further death would only make things as a whole worse. I also value human life highly, since humanity is, as a whole, an amazing happening. I also value animal life much the same, and can't condone the purposeless killing of an animal.

If you're looking for an exact value... I'm afraid I can't give that, but Life is an impossibly rare, infinitely unique, and incredibly complex thing. Life, from Bacteria to Bactrian Camel, is one of the most valuable things we have discovered, and it's preservation should be the most important thing we, as individuals, and as a species, can pursue.

[ChairmanPoo]

^ Sorry, had to use the loo.

Would you give away the leader's solid gold urinal to save your life?

[KaelGotDwarves]

Life has no value but the one you place upon it.

IMHO: if you place no value on life I'd argue that your life also has no value.

I know I've plugged this here before but: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_GNsG0_jMM

If I end up back at Auschwitz I'd do another one.

[sonerohi]

^ Sorry, had to use the loo.

Would you give away the leader's solid gold urinal to save your life?

If I were able to provide an adequate amount of compensation to the Leader.

[Jopax]

I value animal life, i really hate hunting for sport, it disgusts me to see an anything die for someones amusement.But human life, i don't really care about it, sometimes i feel bad for some people but most of the time it's the "happens all the time" feeling that i listen to.Human life is overpriced nowadays, people are nothing more than animals and as such do not deserve any better or worse treatment than animals.

[Armok]

A good heuristic is the integral of it's quality averaged over all possible futures weighted by probability. Squared.

[Grakelin]

No Value.

People are a renewable resource.

[Zorgn]

As I see it, life, the universe, and everything has no intrinsic value. What value it may have is personal and relative to everything else.

Mentally, I value it not a bit and thus am of a live and let live mindset. Emotionally, I'm all over the place, but if I'm in a good mood I generally rank human life pretty high.