Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition
by jameshart on Thursday August 20, 2020 @12:31AM
(#24219909)
Well precisely, it doesn’t actually matter. I’ll let you into a secret: there isn’t even really a dice.
The point is more to get people to think about the difference between aggregate average mortality, vs the individual prognosis of one unlucky COVID patient.
This winds up being a trolley-problem kind of reframing of a moral argument. Philosophically, should you change your behavior between the following two scenarios:
- a group of 100 people all have a 1 in 100 chance of dying of a disease
- a group of 100 people contain one person who will definitely die if they get the disease
?
Does your answer change if you are the one person?
The point is more to get people to think about the difference between aggregate average mortality, vs the individual prognosis of one unlucky COVID patient.
This winds up being a trolley-problem kind of reframing of a moral argument. Philosophically, should you change your behavior between the following two scenarios:
- a group of 100 people all have a 1 in 100 chance of dying of a disease
- a group of 100 people contain one person who will definitely die if they get the disease
?
Does your answer change if you are the one person?