What does it profit a...
Illustration
"What does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his own life?" How much is a life worth? Government scientists have come up with a new way to estimate the value of a human life. They focused on regulatory decisions of the last ten years, comparing the number of deaths, each year, from chemical exposure to the estimated cost of complying with the regulation.
The result of all this figuring is that a human life is worth about $2 million.
Risk analysis fell into 3 categories: risks so high that regulations were almost always put in place; risks so low they almost never were; and a middle ground. The middle ground is where the $2 million figure per life came from.
"If it costs more than $2 million per life saved, the regulation isn't put into place. If it costs less, it is." said one of the scientists.
Although $2 million is a considerable value to place on a single life, it is not enough. Even the entire world would not balance the scales if one life were on the other side. But we do not get our value from scientific evaluation. It comes from the value God places upon life, and from the fact that God's Son gave his life to redeem it.
The result of all this figuring is that a human life is worth about $2 million.
Risk analysis fell into 3 categories: risks so high that regulations were almost always put in place; risks so low they almost never were; and a middle ground. The middle ground is where the $2 million figure per life came from.
"If it costs more than $2 million per life saved, the regulation isn't put into place. If it costs less, it is." said one of the scientists.
Although $2 million is a considerable value to place on a single life, it is not enough. Even the entire world would not balance the scales if one life were on the other side. But we do not get our value from scientific evaluation. It comes from the value God places upon life, and from the fact that God's Son gave his life to redeem it.
