Asking the question is comparatively easy. Finding the answer is hard.
Would you run into a burning building to try to save a baby you knew was trapped inside? Would it make a difference if that baby was your own?
Would you run into a burning building to try to save an 80 year-old woman you knew was dying of cancer? What if she was your mother?
Imagine working in a triage unit during wartime or following a natural disaster. Given limited medical supplies and severe constraints on available personnel, how would you decide who gets treated first?
Does it matter more that 17,000 children die of hunger every day, or that another 130,000 people die each day from other causes?
Assuming we can’t do everything all at once, should we place more emphasis on reducing preventable deaths among underprivileged children, or in extending healthy lifespans for aging adults?
In other words, whose death matters most?
Mike Treder is the Managing Director of the IEET, and former Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Responsible Nanotechnology.