[extropy-chat] Death Toll

[Eliezer S. Yudkowsky]

Dan Clemmensen wrote:
> The loss of 50 lives in London is horrible.
> 
> In today's news, insurgents killed at least 20 Iraqis. Yesterday, 20 
> Iraqis were killed by insurgents. So far this year, on average, at least 
> 50 Iraqis per week have been killed by insurgents, and some number of 
> insurgents and/or Iraqi non-combatants have been killed by American 
> and/or Alliance troops.
> 
> Why are we more upset by the loss of lives in London than by the loss of 
> lives in Iraq?

Speak for yourself.  Half a minute in London is no different than half a 
minute in Iraq.

-- 
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky                          http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence