[Debate] Value of Human Life

[PrincessNate]

about once or twice every month i engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. very often, when i give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the faithful, and that the natural world is wonderful enough—and even miraculous enough if you insist—i attract pitying looks and anxious questions. how, in that case, i am asked, do i find meaning and purpose in life? how does a mere and gross materialist, with no expectation of a life to come, decide what, if anything, is worth caring about?

depending on my mood, i sometimes but not always refrain from pointing out what a breathtakingly insulting and patronizing question this is. just as the answer to the latter question is: self-respect and the desire for the respect of others—while in the meantime it is precisely those who think they have divine permission who are truly capable of any atrocity—so the answer to the first question falls into two parts. a life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless' except if the person living it is also an existentialist and elects to call it so. it could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so. whereas if one sought to define meaninglessness and futility, the idea that a human life should be expended in the guilty, fearful, self-obsessed propitiation of supernatural nonentities… but there, there. enough.

every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man in his endowment with personal capacities

tl;dr: idk like $16mil thai baht or someth lOL

[Yuzan]

Life is an anomaly. Something that is alive being created by anything that cannot be classified as living is just impossible. From the tiniest cell to whatever organism exist that you wish to use it's very existence is an impossibility. In science and in religion there is no clear answer of how life came to be. But with the life that exist now, every human being/animals/plants/etc there are cells these cells hold the key every last bit of life on this planet. In a human beings case each of these cells are used to improve each and everyone of us. Whether it's from using diseases to create vaccines and using plants for remedies to etc. To using animals to test these things. These are key elements of life. We even use newborns and such to benefit and improve our own lives aka stem cell research.

But ye to shorten things up, priceless and 1 of a kind.

[Wucas Pls]

about once or twice every month i engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. very often, when i give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the faithful, and that the natural world is wonderful enough—and even miraculous enough if you insist—i attract pitying looks and anxious questions. how, in that case, i am asked, do i find meaning and purpose in life? how does a mere and gross materialist, with no expectation of a life to come, decide what, if anything, is worth caring about?

depending on my mood, i sometimes but not always refrain from pointing out what a breathtakingly insulting and patronizing question this is. just as the answer to the latter question is: self-respect and the desire for the respect of others—while in the meantime it is precisely those who think they have divine permission who are truly capable of any atrocity—so the answer to the first question falls into two parts. a life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless' except if the person living it is also an existentialist and elects to call it so. it could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so. whereas if one sought to define meaninglessness and futility, the idea that a human life should be expended in the guilty, fearful, self-obsessed propitiation of supernatural nonentities… but there, there. enough.

every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man in his endowment with personal capacities

tl;dr: idk like $16mil thai baht or someth lOL

Making me laugh while still giving a valid point? Kudos to you sir.

If I were to put a value on someone, I'd base it depending his influence towards the world as a whole, economically or even environmentally. And the change in value due to age will completely depend on his "influence". So if a philosopher ages, he/she value won't decrease, it might actually increase due to experience. However, a soldier (for example) will be worth the most during his prime, around 20-30(?), assuming he is a "normal" person, and doesn't achieve something significant and become useful for his experience.

Sickly people would normally be worth less, as they are less useful, however in some rare cases, if the person has a rare disease or an incurable disease and allows experiments on him, his usefulness increases.

If immortality was possible, and assuming you meant by EVERYONE being immortal, then generally, most people's value will increase, as they are able to contribute to society more, on the other hand, everyone's value may not increase as value can be considered a ratio. It may not be criteria-based, but depending on your usefulness compared to others.

As for the value of my life... I honestly can't answer that, I may be biased so I think it's up to others to decide. But I'll thinking about it and answer later :d

Honest answer, I like it

I think it's impossible to value human lives, simply because we don't need to be valued. We aren't meant to be worth anything but a human live.

0$
That's what I think a life of a person is worth, including mine.


Living is about survival, the economics are there so we all can survive.

If you can't defend your self and you die, you failed.

0$

Life is an anomaly. Something that is alive being created by anything that cannot be classified as living is just impossible. From the tiniest cell to whatever organism exist that you wish to use it's very existence is an impossibility. In science and in religion there is no clear answer of how life came to be. But with the life that exist now, every human being/animals/plants/etc there are cells these cells hold the key every last bit of life on this planet. In a human beings case each of these cells are used to improve each and everyone of us. Whether it's from using diseases to create vaccines and using plants for remedies to etc. To using animals to test these things. These are key elements of life. We even use newborns and such to benefit and improve our own lives aka stem cell research.

But ye to shorten things up, priceless and 1 of a kind.

I'll reply to all three of you at once.

If you have a problem taking the perspective of the value of life then place it as a perspective of taking. What should an insurance company pay when someone dies in an accident? What amount of money is too much for a ransom note? How much should the government pay in medical bills before they pull the plug.

Just because something cannot be owned does not mean it is valueless or priceless, it simply means that society has deemed it not purchasable. Even if you take a step back a few hundred years ago, humans themselves could be property, so I really can't see your argument as valid.

Existential Nihilism

nuff said 0k

had to do an essay 0n it 0nce g_G

It is an interesting take on this subject, I cannot say I agree with it, but definitely an interesting concept.

[Yuzan]

I'll reply to all three of you at once.

If you have a problem taking the perspective of the value of life then place it as a perspective of taking. What should an insurance company pay when someone dies in an accident? What amount of money is too much for a ransom note? How much should the government pay in medical bills before they pull the plug.

Just because something cannot be owned does not mean it is valueless or vise versa, it simply means that society has deemed it not purchasable. Even if you take a step back a few hundred years ago, humans themselves could be property, so I really can't see your argument as valid.

Alright I'll reply the best I can without bashing you, I didn't state it has no value. Just the value is priceless. Life excels more then anything else in the word. Forever changing and evolving with infinite possibilities. If you wanna get some hard number down which is impossible have a go at this.

The economic value that animal testing has.
Total profit from drugs and vaccines around the earth from day 1 to the foreseeable future.
Stem cell research and the value it has for human beings with problems from physical to mental handicaps to economic changes. ie making someone that could be classified to someone who is able to work.

And my perspective is quite clear, how much would a woman sell her embryo for? How much would a woman have to paid to give up her newborn to stem-cell research? A teen who had been pregnant and wasn't prepared to be a mother? A surrogate mother carrying the child for another family? etc etc etc. I'm talking about life that hasn't had a chance to be classified as a life, the value that a death has for over a period of time on a society.

Wucas, if you aren't prepared to explore all answers with an open mind don't post a debate. This isn't an argument this is an opinion, and it's as valid as anything else.

[Osuu]

This is pretty interesting:

http://www.humanforsale.com/

[Wucas Pls]

This is pretty interesting:

http://www.humanforsale.com/

"You are worth exactly $2,635,660"

O well, i tried.

[Juriën]

"You are worth exactly $2,635,660"

O well, i tried.

Penis size?

[Mex]

Humans ruin dis world.


you wanna know how?

thank god you didn't.

[Juriën]

Humans ruin dis world.


you wanna know how?

thank god you didn't.

You aren't making a valid point..



What is a human life worth?
Ask those dutch motherfokkers that bought up black people to let them work for them.
Ask your boss what he pays for you.

You life is worth what persons would bid for your skills, experience, knowledge, usefullness.
That's what I think.

The true value lies in those options.
But the true worth of it? idk.

as example;
I work on a company as intern, they pay new interns 150eu a month.
Interns who learn fast, have skills and have a roll in the company's growth.
Get 250eu a month.

Therefore your usefullness, skills, knowledge and experience make you more valuable even though it's a simpel internship.

[PrincessNate]

Making me laugh while still giving a valid point? Kudos to you sir.

someone with a sense of humor