The Value of Life

[imnothere]

i think it all comes down to respect.

who and what do you respect, and to what degree.

[abracax]

Is life invaluable? Does it have a price tag?


More importantly, is one life worth more than another and is it wrong to take a life?

In a world where everything has some sort of value, life has none at all and so therefore it is the most valuable.

Let me explain this as best I can. There is value to every possible thing on this planet, monetary value or some other value. There are very few things that have absolutely no value at all in this world, yet they are things we cannot live without so they are the most valuable. For instance, air has no value at all on any market because it's all around us, yet we cannot survive without it. No price can be put on life because it has no value, so therefore it is the most valuable thing of all.

[Ikeni]

The amount things we feel are worth is a figure (or lack thereof) set entirely by humans, so in a physical sense life means absolutely nothing.

In my personal opinion however, I feel life is extremely precious and that we should intend to make the most of what we have, which is why I could never go in to a career in the military because I would be taking away someone else's life.

[Humility]

I'm a cynic and I see no value to human life, except perhaps in time. I see life itself as nothing, but what is done with the life as everything. A Man who has spent his life doing naught, his life is worth naught. A man who has spent his life doing much, has earned value to his life.

My basis of what gains value and what loses value is based on the assumption that good equals things that bring much joy and little sorrow and evil brings little joy but much sorrow.

This leads to the problem of valuing a Child's life, his life has done nothing to gain it value but it but he has not had a chance to do anything.

I solved this by turning it into an equation,

Life's value = (Good Things done*2 - Bad things done*2) - time lived

This means that at birth a child has gained value due to the joy be brought his mother.

This entire belief stems from my cynical view that existence has no meaning and all perceived meaning is an illusion, but since an illusion is something, it is better then nothing.

[Holeypaladin]

Life is very valuable.

However... those who devalue life, who take the lives of others, and who harm others, are better off dead.

Some people deserve to die.

Murderers, rapists, people who inflict senseless pain and harm on others...

Terrorists need to die. Every terrorist in the world should be executed.

However, those who value life, who realize it's value and try to preserve it... to harm them or devalue them would be the greatest disrespect towards life.

[Skirata]

Terrorists need to die. Every terrorist in the world should be executed.

You can't honestly believe that, can you?

[Ikeni]

Humility:

I'm a cynic and I see no value to human life, except perhaps in time. I see life itself as nothing, but what is done with the life as everything. A Man who has spent his life doing naught, his life is worth naught. A man who has spent his life doing much, has earned value to his life.

Incorrect. A value can't be set to each individual life since we are all equal human beings. Now you may feel the man who has done naught has a life that means naught, but other people will always interpret his life differently? For example, if this hypothetical man had loving parents, they would treasure his life regardless of what he has done, or lack thereof. Like I said, life is what you make of it. If you're going to hold a condescending attitude towards individuals that have done less than say, you have then so be it.

My basis of what gains value and what loses value is based on the assumption that good equals things that bring much joy and little sorrow and evil brings little joy but much sorrow.

What's good and bad of course is open to interpretation. It's quite like religion (I won't delve in to the topic too much), Christianity and Islam have ideals that they perceive to be acceptable whereas the other may find them unacceptable, and therefore "bad". Another non-religious example is the Holocaust. Hitler considered the extermination of "inferiors" him doing good for the world, and fervent Nazis would have agreed with him.

This leads to the problem of valuing a Child's life, his life has done nothing to gain it value but it but he has not had a chance to do anything.

I solved this by turning it into an equation,

Life's value = (Good Things done*2 - Bad things done*2) - time lived

This means that at birth a child has gained value due to the joy be brought his mother.

This entire belief stems from my cynical view that existence has no meaning and all perceived meaning is an illusion, but since an illusion is something, it is better then nothing.

I'm quite disappointed you find such little value in life that you've relegated worth to a mere equation. Now I am willing to admit that i'm cynical regarding life, but I don't hold your nihilistic views on it. Yes, life doesn't have a pre-determined purpose, but we all have to make the most of it. Life is precious, should never be wasted and we should always be grateful for it.

Holeypaladin:

Life is very valuable.

However... those who devalue life, who take the lives of others, and who harm others, are better off dead.

Personally I feel rehabilitation, reindoctrination and atonement are far more effective than just taking another life away. This is where the "eye-for-an-eye" concept comes from. A man kills another man and the justice system responds by taking the murderer's life away. Is that justice? No. The state is there to protect its citizens, not kill them.

Some people deserve to die.

Murderers, rapists, people who inflict senseless pain and harm on others...

Terrorists need to die. Every terrorist in the world should be executed.

Nobody deserves to die. What needs to be done is indoctrinatination and shifting people away from their dubious mindsets. I don't think jail is a very effective system to achieve this, but if a perfect balance is found between punishment and rehabilitation then that will be ideal.

However, those who value life, who realize it's value and try to preserve it... to harm them or devalue them would be the greatest disrespect towards life.

What if they value the lives of specific groups of people and devalue others? Hitler was all for the eternal existence of the Aryan race, but detested Slavs. Was killing him therefore the greatest disrespect towards life?

[Humility]

I'm quite disappointed you find such little value in life that you've relegated worth to a mere equation. Now I am willing to admit that i'm cynical regarding life, but I don't hold your nihilistic views on it. Yes, life doesn't have a pre-determined purpose, but we all have to make the most of it. Life is precious, should never be wasted and we should always be grateful for it.

Thats not Nihilistic, I gave it a value. I said it has value. A nihilist wouldn't.

[Professor X]

Is life invaluable? Does it have a price tag?


More importantly, is one life worth more than another and is it wrong to take a life?

No.
No.

Why? Because life begins and ends every second (and thats just on Earth). The birth and death of a star happens constantly throughout the cosmos. Do I value life? Yes, the people close to me and fellow humans.

Does no one want to voice their opinions on my previous post? I have listened to your posts but none of you seem to share the same notion as me.

[Bree Fletcher]

No.
No.

Why? Because life begins and ends every second (and thats just on Earth). The birth and death of a star happens constantly throughout the cosmos. Do I value life? Yes, the people close to me and fellow humans.

Seems to me like you reduced this to a simple supply-demand thing. There's a large abundance of life occuring; therefore, it loses its objective value. Am I right in this interpretation of your comment?