You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

Luke_A_Somers comments on Is a Purely Rational World a Technologically Advanced World? - Less Wrong Discussion

-3 Post author: tygorton 20 May 2012 04:40AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (24)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Luke_A_Somers 21 May 2012 09:27:38PM *  1 point [-]

I personally would have died at 20 without ambulance motorization, for instance, and I don't think I'm a 1 in 4000 outlier. Appendicitis doesn't always happen at a convenient time, nor is it always recognized promptly. Right there I'd guess we're talking over one in a thousand.

As for light rail, it does have costs. So do buses. The numbers I can find on buses put them ahead only wherever there is no existing rail system.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 21 May 2012 10:03:31PM 2 points [-]

I would have been at least permanently brain-damaged, if not dead, without fast ambulances. Rapid response is the difference between recovering from a stroke and, well, not.