Recently, I was presented with the problem of whether I would rather kill a 30 year old man in a third-world country, or a 30 year old man in a first world country.
I said that the three factors which would influence such a decision were:- Forecasted years of life remaining
- Amount of happiness which the person would experience per year, on average
- Impact on total human happiness by that person
score(x) = (life expectancy in a first world country - 30)*f(mean happiness of person x per year)*g(impact on total human happiness of person x)
score(y) = (life expectancy in a third world country - 30)*f(mean happiness of person y per year)*g(impact on total human happiness of person y) Where f() and g() are undetermined functions. And then I saidIf score(x) > score(y), then kill person y
If score(y) > score(x), then kill person x Else, random_number = random integer between 0 and 1. If random_number == 1, then kill person x Else, kill person y Is this logic sound, assuming happiness is the most significant metric? Are there any other factors which should have been included? Should total happiness over time have been multiplied with or added to impact on total human happiness?