Comments on: Concerning the Value of Human Life

By: xj

xj — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:55:54 +0000

I wonder what results they would have gotten if they had asked the question, “Is the life of a member of your family worth more than that of a stranger?” or possibly “Do you think the life of Mother Teresa was more valuable than that of John Wayne Gacy?”

(Answering “yes” to either question is effectively agreeing that some human lives are worth more than others. You would probably not find very many people who would answer “no,” but FWIW my guess is that, ironically, Mother Teresa would have been one of them.)

By: Daniel Huffman

Daniel Huffman — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:33:47 +0000

Thanks for the links – this is interesting to know. I’m a bit surprised, to be sure. The people who brought you Google Maps couldn’t manage to put together a decent set of linework?

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:26:41 +0000

The map is the default US map from the Google API. I had seen it before at some other website — I’m originally from Michigan too and when I first saw this map, I also immediately thought Michigan was drawn very poorly. For example:
http://themechanism.com/blog/2008/03/30/thematic-mapping-with-the-google-charts-api-a-brief-tutorial/
http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=t&chs=440×220&chd=s:_&chtm=usa

Google must have found some random map and lopped off Canada or something, which would explain the weird boundaries in Lakes Huron and Superior. Although other features of the US are detailed (Florida Keys, the islands off southern CA, etc.), the Thumb is pretty much gone. I did just notice that Louisiana’s coast is also kind of mushed together. I’m not sure if the colors are Google’s default too.

By: :)

:) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:15:09 +0000

*Intentionally* misleading, you mean. This obviously isn’t serious research, and I’m sure they’d be happy to know they’re getting a rise out of people by polarizing the map.

“It’s worth pointing out that because there are only a handful of greenish states and yet roughly a dozen reddish ones on the other side of the mean, those few green ones came down *very strongly* in favor of rape role-playing compared to the rest of the country. It’s also worth pointing out that cattle outnumber women 26:1 in Wyoming.”