= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
I wonder if people with ADHD experience less pain at having to leave what one is currently doing to make a decision.
Julian's comment is on point though. I've been involved with any number of charitable organizations where it is expected that people donate significant time for things like bake sales or craft fairs or dinners in order to raise money, where if you took the money raised minus costs divided by the total hours spent, people would have done better taking second jobs at McDonald's and donating the money.
Plus, we're often providing a product which wouldn't sell for that price on the open market, with custom driven largely by people's affinity for the organization raising the money.
All in all, fund-raisers that aren't either a good leisure activity for all involved, or relentlessly and professionally focused and profitable (i.e. don't encourage random volunteers -- only those with relevant marketable skills and make sure the venture would at least be break-even if you accounted for fair value of labor) are just a horrendous waste of resources. Just get people to write checks.
And yes I beat this drum at every socially appropriate opportunity for every charitable organization I'm associated with.
You might be underestimating the value of social involvement in your equation. If new people become involved in the organization as a result of a "fundraiser" then this may lead to a higher expected value than direct donation, all things being equal.
In response to
Dying Outside
FYI, there is a new report from the American Academy of Neurology out just today that offers new guidelines for the best treatments for ALS:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/aaon-ngi100609.php
Also in the news two days ago:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uorm-csp101509.php
"Compound shows potential for slowing progression of ALS"
In response to
Dying Outside
FYI, there is a new report from the American Academy of Neurology out just today that offers new guidelines for the best treatments for ALS:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/aaon-ngi100609.php
= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
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Interesting idea, but I see two problems :
"Most individuals would want to avoid trivial medical expenses" that's actually a huge problem. In our societies, people tend to postpone going to see doctors (because it costs money, even if most is paid back by social security (like it is here) or private insurances, and because it takes precious time). But for many disease, the earlier they get treated, the easier is the treatment. You have a small weird thing on your skin, you don't go see a doctor for that, and it happens to be a skin cancer and you die, or it happens to be a wart, and when you finally go see a doctor, it has multiplied and you may even have contaged someone else. The key for efficient healthcare is frequently going to the doctor to check you don't have anything. Maybe there could be a number of checks/examens that are not taken from your $2 millions ? A visit to the dentist and general practitioner for a checkup a year and a few things like that ?
You only consider "life", but not in which condition. So how does your mechanism handle issues like eyesight ? How does it handle artificial limbs for people who require them ? The interests of the person and of the insurance will be opposite in those issues - the insurance doesn't care if you're blind and limbless, as long as you're alive, but the person may prefer to be able to see and move around, even if it means a risk of dying earlier (surgery always has a risk).
Your second point is one I hadn't considered. I suppose for some conditions, there would be a correlation between lowered quality of life and early death, in which case a 'longevity insurance' company would calculate quality of life as a correlated factor of longevity. For example, blindness probably has a higher rate of accidental death, so there would be some incentive for the insurance company to help, but the incentive is not as strong as the individual's desire for the improved quality of life that sight would bring.
As an aside, it seems to me that evolution has factored these correlations in as well. We have two eyes, presumably, because an insurance policy against blindness improves the chance of procreation. Unfortunately, as individuals, we don't necessarily want to maximize posterity, but some unique mix of longevity and posterity.