• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

Value of Human Life

Amadeus

Amadeus

Chews the Cud
DP Veteran
Joined
Apr 29, 2013
Messages
6,081
Reaction score
3,216
Location
Benghazi
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Very Liberal
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
 
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...

No. Not difficult for me at all.

Countries are just make-believe borders we invent for some combination of organization and ego. They don't impact the worth of a human.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
No. Not difficult for me at all.

Countries are just make-believe borders we invent for some combination of organization and ego. They don't impact the worth of a human.
Click to expand...

I wrestled with this question a while ago, and came to the conclusion that it would be psychologically debilitating to have the same investment in Syrian life (for example) as it would the lives of people you can readily identify with (your countrymen).
 
Amadeus said:
I wrestled with this question a while ago, and came to the conclusion that it would be psychologically debilitating to have the same investment in Syrian life (for example) as it would the lives of people you can readily identify with (your countrymen).
Click to expand...

I don't see how it's any less possible to identify with someone from Syria than someone on the other side of the country with a totally different cultural background.
 
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...

In the same way that I place more value on the lives of my family, my children, and my grandchildren, of course. It is understandable and legitimate to value those you know and love, over those you don't. My range of allegiance to others begins with my family, then my friends, then community, state, country, then beyond.
 
Outside the world of my friends, relatives, etc, my answer would be it just depends. I probably put more value on the lives of people as a whole from certain countries moreso (England, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland) than I do others. I put the least value on third-world lives I think but that is because I have the least expectations from then and empathy for them.
 
lizzie said:
In the same way that I place more value on the lives of my family, my children, and my grandchildren, of course. It is understandable and legitimate to value those you know and love, over those you don't. My range of allegiance to others begins with my family, then my friends, then community, state, country, then beyond.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I'm getting at. Emotional investment is the currency when valuing human life. Speaking for myself, I cannot afford to invest in the lives of people who are dying en masse in the Middle East (or wherever). When I choose to focus on the issue, yes, I become angry and emotional, but I can filter out the emotional investment quite easily.

During the Iraq Invasion, very little was said about the Iraqi civilian casualties, which far outweighed the deaths of American troops. The News understands emotional investment quite well, unfortunately.
 
Amadeus said:
This is pretty much what I'm getting at. Emotional investment is the currency when valuing human life.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is. When you look at any sad or devastating situation around the world, it's easy to feel sympathetic, but empathy is hard to come by. Empathy indicates that you identify with someone. When it's someone you know and love, or someone that you may not have known, but they live up the street, it hits close to home, and it hurts. The more you know and love them, the more it hurts. That is normal human protective instinct.
 
Amadeus said:
Emotional investment is the currency when valuing human life.
Click to expand...
Only from your perception. The actual value of any given human life is not based on your opinion of them. Their value to you can be but since your value to them is likely to be equally minimal, it all cancels out.

I think true humanity comes from things like recognising that the value of any individual exists beyond the bubble of your own mind.
 
HonestJoe said:
Only from your perception. The actual value of any given human life is not based on your opinion of them. Their value to you can be but since your value to them is likely to be equally minimal, it all cancels out.

I think true humanity comes from things like recognising that the value of any individual exists beyond the bubble of your own mind.
Click to expand...

We can only view things from our own perspective, even when opening up the empathetical floodgates. I wasn't trying to suggest that there is an objective value on human life, because there isn't.
 
Amadeus said:
During the Iraq Invasion, very little was said about the Iraqi civilian casualties, which far outweighed the deaths of American troops. The News understands emotional investment quite well, unfortunately.
Click to expand...

That has been true of all of our recent wars. We built a monument to the 50,000 US soldiers who died in Vietnam, which is all well and good, but where is the monument to the Vietnamese who died as a result of our invasion?

Human beings have always had a tendency to view people outside of the tribe, city state, or nation as being less important than those inside it, starting with the roving bands of hunter gatherers that humans were for 95% of our existence.

Kill an unnamed person from another tribe, and you're a hero, a warrior. Kill Og, son of Hag, husband of Igor, and the rest of the tribe will banish you or worse.

Some things don't change very much, very fast, or at all.
 
I absolutely value the lives of my countrymen over the lives of aliens. Just like I value the lives of my family and friends above strangers.
 
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...
The value of human life is equal; but to the individual it is subjective.
 
FreedomFromAll said:
The value of human life is equal; but to the individual it is subjective.
Click to expand...

I would phrase it more bluntly. Human life is equally without value, unless an investment is made by the individual. I am a very empathetic person, but my empathy ultimately only matters to me.
 
If human life is unequal then there can be no basis for the concept of human rights. The lowest, meanest of humans is still made in God's image and likeness, and is still worthy of protection and respect.

That people descend to tribalism doesn't mean we should not aspire to greater notions of human unity.
 
ChuckBerry said:
If human life is unequal then there can be no basis for the concept of human rights. The lowest, meanest of humans is still made in God's image and likeness, and is still worthy of protection and respect.

That people descend to tribalism doesn't mean we should not aspire to greater notions of human unity.
Click to expand...

I value equal rights and other benevolent societal constructs. These are principles which constitute my ideology. And yet, my ideology is inherently subjective, and what I strive for often does not bear out in practice. An objective value of human life could only be determined by a Demiurge figure.
 
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...

Somewhat. I think my primary focus should be on America and out policies and actions and I will consider the welfare of my people before others. It's not to say that I think those people inherently have less worth, but more that they are not my problem. I cannot control the world or the thoughts and minds of all humanity, I only have say towards America.
 
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...
I think if we're all completely honest with ourselves we'll find what lizzie has put so very well, below. It's natural for people to value their genes above others but we've managed to by-pass that somewhat with modern society. Even though I'm genetically closer to most people in Europe, I feel stronger about Americans regardless of their origins.


lizzie said:
In the same way that I place more value on the lives of my family, my children, and my grandchildren, of course. It is understandable and legitimate to value those you know and love, over those you don't. My range of allegiance to others begins with my family, then my friends, then community, state, country, then beyond.
Click to expand...
And, in my case, Europe, then beyond - since most of my ancestors were European.
 
Amadeus said:
Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...

Definitely. Just as I place greater value on the lives of people whose politics and philosophical viewpoints agree with mine than those who don't.
 
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...
,l value every human life.

not because l am angel ,but l am just human like them
 
Viktyr Gehrig said:
I absolutely value the lives of my countrymen over the lives of aliens. Just like I value the lives of my family and friends above strangers.
Click to expand...

first family ,than countrymen ,than the others

it follows a hierarchical order

l had felt so terrible when l was watching the collapse of WTC towers while there were people trapped in them
but of course if they were my countrymen ,my empathy and sympathy mechanism would work a little diffently because l would have much in common with them
 
Last edited:
Amadeus said:
This may be a difficult question to answer, but it is designed to provoke thought...

Do you place more value on human life when it is from your country?
Click to expand...

Absolutely not, the fact that some one was popped out from their mother on one side of an imaginary line or another makes no difference to me whatsoever.
 
Viktyr Gehrig said:
I absolutely value the lives of my countrymen over the lives of aliens. Just like I value the lives of my family and friends above strangers.
Click to expand...

Except you DON'T KNOW most of your countrymen, they are just your countrymen due to arbitrary lines drawn by politicians and human rulers.
 
RGacky3 said:
Except you DON'T KNOW most of your countrymen, they are just your countrymen due to arbitrary lines drawn by politicians and human rulers.
Click to expand...

You don't have to know them personally, just identify them when something tragic happens. It is human nature.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom