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by sokoloff 2996 days ago
> And net lives lost = 1001. So, we've killed 1001 people to let another 1000 live. We [exchanged] their lives.

No. Net lives lost = -1000. Gross lives lost = 1001.

We killed 1001 people to let 2001 live.

1 comments

I guess we're not really communicating very well.

Let's change tack slightly. Say that we had a vaccine for a deadly disease and 1 million people were vaccinated with it. And let's say that out of that 1 million people, 1000 died as a side effect of the vaccine, while 2001 people avoided certain death (and let's say that we are in a position to know that with absolute certainty).

Do you think such a vaccine would be considered successful?

I guess I should clarify that when I say "considered successful" I mean: a) by the general population and b) by the medical profession.