If more people use bicycles to get around, then bicycle road deaths increase, but life expectancy also increases. The improved physical health from exercise more than makes up for the number of crashes.
If more people eat ice cream, then ice cream choking deaths increase, and life expectancy decreases. Ice cream doesn’t fill a shortage in most people’s diets but makes them more likely to become overweight with the associated medical issue. So should we try to reduce ice cream intake?
If more people go swimming, then drowning deaths increase, but does life expectancy decrease or increase? And if life expectancy decreases, is it worth it or not in terms of the joy it provides?
We’re all going to die somehow. We need more information before we can conclude whether the increased drownings are a bad development.
[relevant xkcd]
If more people use bicycles to get around, then bicycle road deaths increase, but life expectancy also increases. The improved physical health from exercise more than makes up for the number of crashes.
If more people eat ice cream, then ice cream choking deaths increase, and life expectancy decreases. Ice cream doesn’t fill a shortage in most people’s diets but makes them more likely to become overweight with the associated medical issue. So should we try to reduce ice cream intake?
If more people go swimming, then drowning deaths increase, but does life expectancy decrease or increase? And if life expectancy decreases, is it worth it or not in terms of the joy it provides?
We’re all going to die somehow. We need more information before we can conclude whether the increased drownings are a bad development.