IAWY, though expensive interventions can be cost-effective for people with high productivity and people in the first world are a lot more productive than people people in the third world. If Maurice Hilleman went blind mid-career, getting him a seeing eye dog would be amazingly effective.
I suggest that “people in the first world are a lot more productive than people in the third world” might be better expressed as “people can be a lot more productive in the first world than in the third world”. If Maurice Hilleman had been born in some out-of-the-way village in the poorest parts of Africa, he almost certainly wouldn’t have achieved any of what he actually did.
This rephrasing has the advantage of being less likely to lead to heated arguments about “human biodiversity” and the like.
(It’s not perfect. It is likely true that the affluent Western countries afford much better opportunities for people to become very productive, and that most of the adults in that hypothetical out-of-the-way African village would be less productive if transplanted to, say, the USA than if they had been born there.)
I think we agree in sentiment, but I don’t want to understate the effect. Almost everyone in rich countries is more productive than almost everyone in poor countries. A subsistence farmer living on less than $1 per day can move to the US and earn $54 per day mowing Maurice Hilleman’s lawn. When you are surrounded by productive people and are swimming in capital, it’s not hard to be more productive than the medium earthling.
ETA: Rereading my comment and your reply: you’re right. My comment switches between a fungible idea of people, who are more productive some places than other, and a specific person (Maurice Hilleman) who is more productive than other persons in his environment. I’ll think about rephrasing.
IAWY, though expensive interventions can be cost-effective for people with high productivity and people in the first world are a lot more productive than people people in the third world. If Maurice Hilleman went blind mid-career, getting him a seeing eye dog would be amazingly effective.
I suggest that “people in the first world are a lot more productive than people in the third world” might be better expressed as “people can be a lot more productive in the first world than in the third world”. If Maurice Hilleman had been born in some out-of-the-way village in the poorest parts of Africa, he almost certainly wouldn’t have achieved any of what he actually did.
This rephrasing has the advantage of being less likely to lead to heated arguments about “human biodiversity” and the like.
(It’s not perfect. It is likely true that the affluent Western countries afford much better opportunities for people to become very productive, and that most of the adults in that hypothetical out-of-the-way African village would be less productive if transplanted to, say, the USA than if they had been born there.)
I think we agree in sentiment, but I don’t want to understate the effect. Almost everyone in rich countries is more productive than almost everyone in poor countries. A subsistence farmer living on less than $1 per day can move to the US and earn $54 per day mowing Maurice Hilleman’s lawn. When you are surrounded by productive people and are swimming in capital, it’s not hard to be more productive than the medium earthling.
ETA: Rereading my comment and your reply: you’re right. My comment switches between a fungible idea of people, who are more productive some places than other, and a specific person (Maurice Hilleman) who is more productive than other persons in his environment. I’ll think about rephrasing.
Yes, all agreed.