I reject the parable/dilemma for another reason: in the majority of cases, I don’t think it’s ethical to spend so much money on a suit that you would legitimately hesitate to save a drowning child if it put the suit at risk?
If you’re so rich that you can buy tailor-made suits, then sure, go save the child and buy another suit. If you’re not… then why are you buying super-expensive tailor-made suits? I see extremely few situations where keeping the ability to play status games slightly better would be worth more than saving a child’s life.
(And yes, there’s arguments about “near vs far” and how you could spend your money saving children in poor countries instead, but other commenters have already pointed out why one might still value a nearby child more. Also, even under that lens, the framework “don’t spend more money than you can afford on status signals” still holds.)
From previous posts about this setting, the background assumption is that the child almost certainly won’t permanently die if it takes 15 seconds longer to reach them. This is not Earth. Even if they die, their body should be recoverable before their brain degrades too badly for vitrification and future revival. It is also stated that the primary character here is far more selfish than usual.
However even on Earth, we do accept economic reasons for delaying rescue by even a lot more than 15 seconds. We don’t pay enough lifeguards to patrol near every swimmer, for example, which means that when they spot a swimmer in distress it takes at least 15 more seconds to reach them. In nearly every city, a single extra ambulance team could reduce average response time to medical emergencies by a great deal more than 15 seconds. There doesn’t seem to be any great ethical outcry about this, though there are sometimes newspaper articles when the delays go past a few extra hours.
What’s more these are typically shared, public expenses (via insurance if nothing else). One of the major questions addressed in the post is whether the extra cost should be borne by the rescuer alone. Is that ethically relevant, or is it just an economic question of incentives?
From previous posts about this setting, the background assumption is that the child almost certainly won’t permanently die if it takes 15 seconds longer to reach them.
Sure, whatever.
Honestly, that answer makes me want to engage with the article even less. If the idea is that you’re supposed to know about an entire fanfiction-of-a-fanfiction canon to talk about this thought experiment, then I don’t see what it’s doing in the Curated feed.
If you think luxury spending is inherently immoral, I think you’re going to end up in the same position as Peter Singer re. the obligation to give away almost all of your income.
I reject the parable/dilemma for another reason: in the majority of cases, I don’t think it’s ethical to spend so much money on a suit that you would legitimately hesitate to save a drowning child if it put the suit at risk?
If you’re so rich that you can buy tailor-made suits, then sure, go save the child and buy another suit. If you’re not… then why are you buying super-expensive tailor-made suits? I see extremely few situations where keeping the ability to play status games slightly better would be worth more than saving a child’s life.
(And yes, there’s arguments about “near vs far” and how you could spend your money saving children in poor countries instead, but other commenters have already pointed out why one might still value a nearby child more. Also, even under that lens, the framework “don’t spend more money than you can afford on status signals” still holds.)
From previous posts about this setting, the background assumption is that the child almost certainly won’t permanently die if it takes 15 seconds longer to reach them. This is not Earth. Even if they die, their body should be recoverable before their brain degrades too badly for vitrification and future revival. It is also stated that the primary character here is far more selfish than usual.
However even on Earth, we do accept economic reasons for delaying rescue by even a lot more than 15 seconds. We don’t pay enough lifeguards to patrol near every swimmer, for example, which means that when they spot a swimmer in distress it takes at least 15 more seconds to reach them. In nearly every city, a single extra ambulance team could reduce average response time to medical emergencies by a great deal more than 15 seconds. There doesn’t seem to be any great ethical outcry about this, though there are sometimes newspaper articles when the delays go past a few extra hours.
What’s more these are typically shared, public expenses (via insurance if nothing else). One of the major questions addressed in the post is whether the extra cost should be borne by the rescuer alone. Is that ethically relevant, or is it just an economic question of incentives?
Sure, whatever.
Honestly, that answer makes me want to engage with the article even less. If the idea is that you’re supposed to know about an entire fanfiction-of-a-fanfiction canon to talk about this thought experiment, then I don’t see what it’s doing in the Curated feed.
If you think luxury spending is inherently immoral, I think you’re going to end up in the same position as Peter Singer re. the obligation to give away almost all of your income.