Nebu comments on Really Extreme Altruism - Less Wrong

16 Post author: CronoDAS 15 March 2009 06:51AM

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Comment author: Mario 15 March 2009 10:58:33AM 1 point [-]

I think, then, that the harm associated with this man's suicide would have to take into account the rise in premiums he would be forcing on people in similar situations. His death may increase the amount a similar man would have to pay, decreasing the likelihood that he could afford insurance and increasing the harm that man's death would cause his dependents. Over time, those effects could swamp any short-term benefit to the charity.

Comment author: Nebu 17 March 2009 04:46:09PM 6 points [-]

I think we can consider the harm associate with this man's suicide causing a rise in premiums to be relatively negligible, seeing as people have committed suicide while insured in the past, and it hasn't made prices so incredibly high as to stop insurance companies from being able to sell similar policies today.