[ExI] Transhumanism and Politics

[J. Andrew Rogers]

On Jan 27, 2008, at 1:26 PM, Samantha Atkins wrote:
> On Jan 26, 2008, at 12:44 PM, J. Andrew Rogers wrote:
>>
>> The US has the best average outcomes in the world by substantial
>> margin; an interesting question is whether or not the European  
>> systems
>> would produce similar outcomes if they had as much money to spend per
>> capita.
>
> Odd, that is not what health statistics across "first world" countries
> say.   How come?


Health has little to do with the effectiveness of healthcare beyond a  
very rudimentary level.  Most of the statistics of "first world"  
health are largely derived from demographic, genetic, and  
environmental factors.  If you look at direct measures of healthcare  
outcomes e.g. the previously mentioned cancer survival rates or  
diagnostic accuracy, the US leads the pack by a clear margin.

The penchant of Billy Bob for gorging himself on barbecue ribs and  
deep-fried Twinkies is independent of his chances of survival if he  
has a heart attack or develops colon cancer in various countries.  The  
US has a very high number of adverse environmental and genetic factors  
compared to the rest of the industrialized world, but compensates  
partly by a superior access to medical technology that keeps us alive  
longer than you could expect in any other country given the  
circumstances.

J. Andrew Rogers