[extropy-chat] Value of human life

[Dan Clemmensen]

On 26 Dec, the Indian Ocean Tsunami killed a number of people. Initial 
reports were in the tens of thousands, and after some days the number 
stabilized in excess of 100K. Ouch. For the last week, the Indian ocean 
Tsunami has not been a headline at Google News.

Today, there is a headline about the dam collapse in Pakistan, causing a 
loss of life of 135 people. This is of course a tragedy. The Tsunami is 
not mentioned.

Can we conclude anything from this? is there a "half-life" of the value 
of a human life?

Jump forward to the (mythical?) singularity.  Some are able to upload, 
and some are not.   As Extropians, do we care? how important is an 
individual human life at the cusp?  do we care about how many humans 
participate in the singularity?