Also, as Eric Raymond discusses here, especially in the comments, you sometimes need to make judgements without spending ten minutes talking to everyone you see.

...

I do not require any “moral justification” for acting on the truth as it it really is; truth is its own warrant. (A comment by him).

I facepalmed. Really, Eric? Sorry, I don't think that a moral realist is perceptive enough to the nuances and ethical knots involved to be a judge on this issue. I don't know, he might be an excellent scientist, but it's extremely stupid to be so rash when you're attempting serious contrarianism.

But you reveal a confusion in your own thinking. It is not “treating other human beings as less-than-equal” to make rational decisions in risk situations; it is only that if you make decisions which are irrationally biased.

Yep, let's all try to overcome bias really really hard; there's only one solution, one desirable state, there's a straight road ahead of us; Kingdom of Rationality, here we come!

(Yvain, thank you a million times for that sobering post!)