One must also be wary of what might be termed the “zero-sum game” bias. In real life, how often does it really occur that a person is faced with either saving X people OR saving Y people (where Y is greater than X)?
The notion of human lives as some sort of currency to be paid in exchange for fate’s favor seems like something stemming primarily from the world of mythology and story problems, rather than something stemming from practical reality. While of course people shouldn’t let themselves be “blinded by their own greatness” to the point where they merely save whatever group of people they believe will signal the most virtue on their part, it is important to keep one’s mind attuned to the fact that sometimes, it is possible to save everyone.
(And, while I do think from a values standpoint that “Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he had saved the whole world”, this does not imply that I believe that people who can save lives should feel “satisfied” once they have saved a single life. And I don’t think saving lots of lives is good because of some abstract “additive utility” that cannot ever be subjectively appreciated by any entity; I think saving lots of lives is good because individuals and their unique perspectives are irreplaceable, and from the perspective of each person who is saved, the entire world has been saved—seeing as they can only continue to experience the world if they are saved!)
One must also be wary of what might be termed the “zero-sum game” bias. In real life, how often does it really occur that a person is faced with either saving X people OR saving Y people (where Y is greater than X)?
The notion of human lives as some sort of currency to be paid in exchange for fate’s favor seems like something stemming primarily from the world of mythology and story problems, rather than something stemming from practical reality. While of course people shouldn’t let themselves be “blinded by their own greatness” to the point where they merely save whatever group of people they believe will signal the most virtue on their part, it is important to keep one’s mind attuned to the fact that sometimes, it is possible to save everyone.
(And, while I do think from a values standpoint that “Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he had saved the whole world”, this does not imply that I believe that people who can save lives should feel “satisfied” once they have saved a single life. And I don’t think saving lots of lives is good because of some abstract “additive utility” that cannot ever be subjectively appreciated by any entity; I think saving lots of lives is good because individuals and their unique perspectives are irreplaceable, and from the perspective of each person who is saved, the entire world has been saved—seeing as they can only continue to experience the world if they are saved!)