No thanks, Tim

Pft, there's a post above this that values humans at $6,000

the value of human life has been practically shown every time a company has to pay restitution for unlawful deaths.

This is too complex. But- we decide or agree that some lives are worth more than others. A man holding another at gunpoint- kill the man holding the gun or the other man dies- society doesn’t value these lives equally or the outcome would t matter. The criminal life is seen as worth less. A secret service agent- the whole secret service- all their lives are seen as worth less than the president. Otherwise it wouldn’t be their duty to sacrifice their lives to save the president right?

We can debate wether Jeff Bezos is human at all let alone a trash human- but on paper in dollars- his life is worth more than yours most likely. If you were both lost at sea- he’s the one they’d put the most pressure on to find- not you. We see it in justice all the time- it’s no secret or conspiracy theory the wealthy or powerful often get reduced or no sentences for crimes others see harsher punishment for. Their loss is seen as worth more to society, more people lose more money if they aren’t out in the world. They have “too much potential” to “let a transgression ruin it..” and such.

Not saying it is right. Saying it is the way it is. But how do we give a dollar value to a human life without devaluing it? What is priceless or effectively unique is only worth whatever the market will pay for it. The Hope Diamond or a the “Spirit of St. Lewis” or the scepter of King so and so is worth... whatever people will pay for it.

But Theron lies the rub right? The Hope Diamond or the Mona Lisa have significant insurance value and have been appraised. Ask most people if they’d rather have their life or the Mona Lisa- for most that is a no brainer. So then at least to you and likely those who love you- you’re worth at least as much as the Mona Lisa.....

But.... how is that practical? Something of such value- to be insured- it must be kept under strict conditions. Protected from almost all potential harm- and most certainly not allowed to roam the world.

So at its core- ignoring the commoditization of human life and morality and slavery and blah blah...

1. The only way you could try to recover significant value for a human life really- would be to prove that you did everything possible to protect that life from any harm, loss, or risk. Most people can’t say that about ourselves can we? The “human life has dollar value” argument- especially for medicine- falls apart the moment you get someone who drinks, smokes, stays up late, doesn’t eat the most scientifically perfect diet and get the optimum recommended exercise etc. when you go to the doctor in the world your life has monetary value- and you need glasses- and they prove that you don’t wear proper UV protective wear st all time and your lighting is sub optimal and you stare at screens too long- you’ll have to pay out of pocket- because you did t mitigate the risk. That’s how insurance works on a commodity.

2. Your life is worth $7mill. That means that if you ever require at once, or in total have accumulated more than somewhere between 30-70% of that amount in services received such as medical aid, school, social services etc- you would be a “write off.” “Totaled.” Your cost or projected future cost exceeds your value and thus- you become worth effectively nothing. Scrap value.

When we are only looking at a spread sheet with dollar signs- a human life’s value isn’t calculated into anything. But if we put a value to that life- every legal system we have basically says your life would become property- and man... property law has stipulations for tort and malicious acts (punitive damages) and such- but it isn’t sentimental. Your grandpas class ring is worth no more than any other old ring of similar materials. Your mother’s pearls- your only momento of her- are plastic and worth $5. That 20 year old car you put $50k into restoring to brand new is worth exactly the “KBB” excellent condition or whatever you can prove several identical specimens have sold for- if you fight it. Old but not classic car people know as well as many other collectibles folks-

That rare 1/500 manual transmission with disc brakes 30 year old car- the one that you bought a $1200 rare suspension for and put 1000 hours of your time into- the one people offer you $10,000+ dollars for- totaled is worth maybe $2k. You can’t bill the insurance for all the time you spent working on it. You can’t say “it has a new paint job I did myself! That’s a $10k job!”

Why did you paint it? If it needed paint- “excellent” condition means good paint. If it didn’t need paint- you CHOSE to do it- here’s your check. Find one in that color or settle for another. You can maybe get a percent- $500 or whatever for the paint back. The law doesn’t care yours was red unless you can show red ones go for more. Your “one of a kind creation” doesn’t have a market history- so there’s no reason to assume it is worth more- it is probably worth less if anything. If you have piles of receipts and records you might get SOMETHING- but don’t count on it. Apply that to humans- then factor in all the ways we’d classify to LOWER the value of a human.

That’s a fun one. “well you see- they had no friends, little social media presence or followers. Their career trajectory was crap and oh! Statistically they were likely to commit suicide/die of poor health/commit a crime... so really the whole $7 million seems a bit much. Plus well- they were 20. So even if they lived to 100 that’s 20% off right there for depreciation...” does having kids make you worth more or less? You’re theoretically producing more labor units for the future- but you’re also sucking more resources and causing more pollution.... and having a family means YOU personally are likely to work less hours to society as a whole- but your family relies more on you right?