= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
ChristianKl comments on Open thread, Aug. 03 - Aug. 09, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (177)
A core idea of EA is the marginal value of a donation. The marginal value of an additional person donating blood is certainly less than a live saved.
Certainly not. Finding funding to have enough blood donations isn't a problem. Our medical system has enough money to pay people in times of shortage.
But it doesn't want to pay people. The average quality of blood of people who have to be bribed is lower than the average quality of people who donate blood to help their fellow citizens.
I think you are often right about the marginal utility of blood. However, it is worth noting that the Red Cross both pesters people to give blood (a lot, even if you request them directly not to multiple times), and that they offer rewards for blood -- usually a t-shirt or a hat, but recently I've been getting $5 gift cards. Obviously, this is not intended to directly indicate the worth of the blood, but these factors do indicate that bribery and coercion is alive and well.
EDIT: The FDA prohibits any gifts to blood donors in excess of $25 in cumulative value.
It is also worth noting that there is a thriving industry paying for blood plasma, which may indicate that certain types of blood donation are significantly more valuable than others (plasma are limited use, but can be given regardless of blood type).