• Question: Would you rather seriously improve lots of lives, or save lots of lives?

    Asked by anon-224975 to Simon, Paul, Nawapat, Natalie, Katy on 20 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Paul Laurance-Young

      Paul Laurance-Young answered on 20 Nov 2019:


      There’s a tough question…
      On one hand: If I save lots of lives, then those people may go on to do great things and their families would be happy that they’ve been saved. That may mean more people get helped…
      On the other hand… If I seriously improve lots of lives, I make that cohort of people happier – they may be able to do more, help society more..
      Then again… If I improve lots of lives, does that mean those lives may be saved?

      See, this is what happens when you put six scientists in a room; You’ll get at least 12 different opinions!

    • Photo: Natalie Fowler

      Natalie Fowler answered on 20 Nov 2019:


      Wow what a question. Sometimes seriously improving someones life can save it! Especially if they are struggling with a serious disease. Prevention is better than treatment so seriously improving lives should be the first step. Saving lives should be the last resort!

    • Photo: Nawapat Kaweeyanun

      Nawapat Kaweeyanun answered on 20 Nov 2019:


      That’s indeed a very hard question. But for me even though saving lives is very noble, living for the sake of living alone is in itself a cause of suffering. You may have heard the concept of euthanasia – when a patient asks the doctor to end their life when the pain from living become too much. I believe we should do things that make more people happy, and in this case that’s improving lives.

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