Right to Risk #

Reading https://www.piratewires.com/p/the-crime-of-curiosity made me think about how much personally dangerous/risky behavior we should legally allow. Should we allow unhealthy eating? Motorcycle riding? Messing with your own gut microbiome? Messing with your own genes? Climbing? Self-harm? Attempted suicide? Not getting vaccinated for COVID-19?

Insurance #

More dangerous behaviors cost money. Who pays?

Responsibility and Legality #

If you have a child, or are personally responsible for someone, then hurting yourself pretty directly hurts that person. Therefore, it makes sense to have stricter rules about risk taking when someone is responsible for another. Hurting other people is legally forbidden, after all. How much does this apply to caregiver to caretaker relationships (e.g. child -> parent)? Romantic relationships? Friendships?

How much responsibility should we assume members of the same society should have for each other?

My Defaults #

This stuff is hard to think about and, in lieu of doing that work for specific situations, I usually just default to valuing personal freedoms over mitigating damage, especially for single people who have distanced themselves from strong binding relationships. I realize that if I’m placed in a position where I have to make a consequential decision, this default belief is not strong enough to use :).

Categories: Morality