RE: risk abatement options (response to Tschaeche)

["Karam, Andrew" <Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu>]

>One, is the issue of cost-benefit.  I know 
>many well-educated people who find it completely disdainful to "put a price

>on a human life." 

Dear Barbara,

Have you ever wondered if people making such comments have life insurance
policies?  More seriously, I have pointed out to my students that everyone
puts a price on their lives all the time, and not only when buying
insurance.  Deciding to buy new tires or have brake work done, for example,
are excellent examples of making an unconscious cost-benefit analysis - i.e.
is the reduced risk of a fatal accident worth the extra cost?  And, of
course, there are others, including health insurance decisions, deciding
whether or not to join a health club, diet, and so forth.  In fact, I would
argue that we attempt to put a price of sorts on human life all the time.
We're just not conscious of it. 

While it would be nice to assume that, if everyone knew this, they would
take a more charitable look at cost-benefit analyses, but I doubt this would
occur.  We (humans) may be intelligent, but we're not always very smart.

Andy

Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
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