The numbers in the DALY chart above come from the DCP2 project’s aggregation of cost effectiveness estimates. There are definitely errors, some of them large, but the range is there. As in, many treatments have low cost effectiveness, while others, like anti-malaria nets have strong evidence for high cost effectiveness.
“some lives are considerably less valuable than others”
I disagree on that. Averting suffering is valuable regardless of who’s suffering it is. Why are you optimizing for “economic output”?
“helping out someone locally is far more likely to bring me benefits”
Helping people, locally or remotely, is unlikely to bring you benefits. If you want to help your future self you do best saving your money or investing it. Just as you do better to purchase fuzzies and utilons separately you also do better to purchase self-benefits and utilons separately.
“Does that take into account the fact that these people are now more likely to have OTHER problems, seeing as they aren’t dying from this one?”
This turns out to not be very significant.
“Are these numbers totally made up?”
The numbers in the DALY chart above come from the DCP2 project’s aggregation of cost effectiveness estimates. There are definitely errors, some of them large, but the range is there. As in, many treatments have low cost effectiveness, while others, like anti-malaria nets have strong evidence for high cost effectiveness.
“some lives are considerably less valuable than others”
I disagree on that. Averting suffering is valuable regardless of who’s suffering it is. Why are you optimizing for “economic output”?
“helping out someone locally is far more likely to bring me benefits”
Helping people, locally or remotely, is unlikely to bring you benefits. If you want to help your future self you do best saving your money or investing it. Just as you do better to purchase fuzzies and utilons separately you also do better to purchase self-benefits and utilons separately.