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From: dick@ucsfcca.UUCP (Dick Karpinski)
Newsgroups: net.columbia,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Escape tower for shuttle orbiter?
Message-ID: <465@ucsfcca.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 26-Mar-86 15:36:50 EST
Article-I.D.: ucsfcca.465
Posted: Wed Mar 26 15:36:50 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 29-Mar-86 01:34:07 EST
References: <9696@ucla-cs.ARPA> <588@qantel.UUCP> <2593@genat.UUCP> <12610@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <11035@amdcad.UUCP>
Reply-To: dick@ucsfcca.UUCP (Dick Karpinski)
Distribution: net
Organization: UCSF Computer Center
Lines: 32
Keywords: life vs. megabucks
Xref: watmath net.columbia:2725 net.philosophy:4736

In article <11035@amdcad.UUCP> mike@amdcad.UUCP (Mike Parker) writes:
>In article <12610@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> desj@brahms.UUCP (David desJardins) writes:
>>   I have not touched on this kind of a trade-off, because I don't see any
>>real situation where we would have to make a choice between saving the
>>shuttle orbiter *or* the crew.  But, *if* this choice were necessary, it
>>seems clear to save the orbiter.
>
>Money is trash ( ask Reagan, or just look at his deficit spending ) we just
>print it, if a shuttle is so valuable, we print x billion dollars and make
>one. Memories and human relationships are not replaceable, the price of
>100 shuttles will never make what happened right with the children of those

Come on, sir!  Money is lives.  One megabuck is roughly one career.
And all big projects have deaths associated with them.  Feel free to
establish your own country/religion/philosophy which takes as an
article of faith that human life is worth infinite dollars, but I
shall choose to live elsewhere.  Every time I make a decision to risk
crossing the street, I am balancing the savings (in dollars if you
like) against the risk of MY life.  To value life beyond megabucks is
to live in a bomb shelter with guard dogs etc.  That is: silly.

Still, I would be uncomfortable about pulling that switch.  It takes
time and effort to make rational choices.  Neither is required to
make sloppy or sentimental ones.

Dick
-- 

Dick Karpinski    Manager of Unix Services, UCSF Computer Center
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf!dick   (415) 476-4529 (12-7)
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