Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Most people would rather go bankrupt than lose a finger. Fingers are kind of important. If I can choose to keep my house or my finger, I’m definitely choosing the finger.

So just divide the average net worth of a saw operator by the cost of a saw to get how many saws a finger is worth.




Really? I would definitely rather lose a finger than go homeless. Homeless people have far, far worse life outcomes than people with missing fingers.


A specific person isn’t the average homeless person who tend to be dealing with addiction, physical or mental illness, past incarceration, etc.

So talking about the average outcomes of a random homeless person doesn’t really apply here.


Exactly, homeless people living on the street should really be called familyless.

If I went bankrupt and lost everything I have a social safety net of family members who would put a roof over my head until I got on my feet again. Only people without that safety net end up on the streets. Or they have addictions that mean their family can’t take care of them anymore.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: