Hypothetical Question

[thefugitive1993]

Just to mix things up a bit:

Please consider these questions in isolation and answer honestly.

1. I work very hard. It's taken me years of endeavour and sacrifice to get to where I am. My family have stood by me in tough times, and now I have a product to market. It's all the result of my own work and harms no-one. I want to see a good return for my efforts. Do I have carte blanche to sell it to whoever I want for whatever I want?

2. My product once you have bought it will give you unlimited free beer and TV channels. Is your answer changed.

3. My product is a cure for cancer. What now?

[Alice in Blunderland]

1. YES
2. DONT CARE so it can stay YES
3. YES

My question back would be

What value do you put on a life.

If you could live with your conscience and for the sake of money charge what someone could not afford for the cure then thats your right.

However its a long road with no turns and one day someone may in turn find the cure for a heart problem which you may develop then the boot would be on the other foot.

Hypothetical answer of course.

[Bobinovich]

He he, interesting initial query and great first reply Alice! My answers would have been the same but I probably wouldn't have come up with such a good comeback.

[thefugitive1993]

1. YES
2. DONT CARE so it can stay YES
3. YES

My question back would be

What value do you put on a life.

If you could live with your conscience and for the sake of money charge what someone could not afford for the cure then thats your right.

However its a long road with no turns and one day someone may in turn find the cure for a heart problem which you may develop then the boot would be on the other foot.

Hypothetical answer of course.

And a good hypothetical answer;

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make my cure universally available as resources are limited and expensive, so it will fall to the wealthy and to government via healthboards to decide who benefits; however I will have made so much money from my cancer cure that the heart surgery will not be prohibitively expensive.

[Ricco]

My answers would be Yes, Yes to the beer and No to the TV, and Yes again.

Like any new product it will be priced highly and only available to the rich. As demand increases and profits rise, adjustments can be made to make the product available to those of more modest means. The profit margin will be smaller but demand greater, so overall profits will be higher. Later, a further drop in margins will see even greater returns.

Observe the parallel with calculators and mobile phones. :cool:

[porshiepoo]

Just to mix things up a bit:

Please consider these questions in isolation and answer honestly.

1. I work very hard. It's taken me years of endeavour and sacrifice to get to where I am. My family have stood by me in tough times, and now I have a product to market. It's all the result of my own work and harms no-one. I want to see a good return for my efforts. Do I have carte blanche to sell it to whoever I want for whatever I want?

2. My product once you have bought it will give you unlimited free beer and TV channels. Is your answer changed.

3. My product is a cure for cancer. What now?


1. Yes.
2. Yes my answers changed cos TV is sometimes the bane of my life only to be outdone by my, probably irrational, fear of alcoholism affecting a member of my family.
3. I'd want to know who you tested this product on if the it's all your own work and harms no-one. :eek: Or are those family members no longer able to stand??? ;)

[Alice in Blunderland]

And a good hypothetical answer;

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make my cure universally available as resources are limited and expensive, so it will fall to the wealthy and to government via healthboards to decide who benefits; however I will have made so much money from my cancer cure that the heart surgery will not be prohibitively expensive.

Ahh but hypothetically how do you know that you could afford the heart treatment their greed may be beyond even yours :confused


Left to the health boards to decide about the viability of the treatment well we all know what will happen there N.I.C.E will kndly not allow it to be made available through the NHS as it would not be considered good value for money. Im seeing your profits taking a slide already.....

The government well lets see they seem to be more bothered about targets waiting lists and many other things like washing hands so again a decision on your drug could be a long way off ....profits going downhill :lol:

[Alice in Blunderland]

however I will have made so much money from my cancer cure that the heart surgery will not be prohibitively expensive.

Oh deary me your heart will be pounding rapidly now at the downturn in profits all those years of hard work might not be giving you such a healthy return.....hee hee..... ;)
Did I mention I do a mean mouth to mouth and a bit of heart massage.....:eek:
just in case your on your uppers and should need to rely on your friends.

[karia]

Oh deary me your heart will be pounding rapidly now at the downturn in profits all those years of hard work might not be giving you such a healthy return.....hee hee.....
Did I mention I do a mean mouth to mouth and a bit of heart massage.....
just in case your on your uppers and should need to rely on your friends.

Hi Alice,

I don't remember fugitive 'factoring in' friends !;)

Could it be that he/she has not thought this through properly??:)

karia

[Dave Taylor]

If the product was the subject of an earlier patent, then the answer to all three questions would be “No”. :(
Does the deal include a beer glass with built-in channel changer?

[horseman]

You think someone with all that intelligentsia would need to seek advice?:)

[scorrie]

Just to mix things up a bit:

Please consider these questions in isolation and answer honestly.

1. I work very hard. It's taken me years of endeavour and sacrifice to get to where I am. My family have stood by me in tough times, and now I have a product to market. It's all the result of my own work and harms no-one. I want to see a good return for my efforts. Do I have carte blanche to sell it to whoever I want for whatever I want?

2. My product once you have bought it will give you unlimited free beer and TV channels. Is your answer changed.

3. My product is a cure for cancer. What now?

Nothing is ever as straight-forward as it may seem. Your initial product is not identified, therefore one can assume that you can charge any amount you see fit and people are free to choose whether they need it or not. The rules of supply and demand will apply and you can only make a success of the business by achieving the right balance.

I would think that, in today's society, people would be able to buy as much TV as they need, you could even argue that alcoholics seem able to drink themselves to death without putting in a hard day's work along the way. It is certainly not as enticing a product that you would be marketing here as, say, immortality.

The idea of a cure for cancer being marketed is obviously a different matter and opens up a whole new question of the ethics behind such a concept. However, with "Postcode Lottery" on certain medical treatments already evident, you could suggest we already live in such an environment. With people generally living longer now, eliminating major "killers" such as cancer, heart disease, etc would lead to a much greater world population, many of whom would be infirm and it would cause a large strain on the care bill of any country. If everyone were to become "near immortal" we would end up with the Logan's Run scenario. Anyone for Carousel?

[scorrie]

Oh God, I've killed another thread!!

[anneoctober]

I don't know about killing another thread Scorrie, it's the "immortality" that scares me. This blue planet won't be able to cope with us all...:eek:

[crayola]

Does anyone else think of Alex from A Clockwork Orange when they read scorrie's posts? I'm being serious. Honest!

[Lolabelle]

Oh God, I've killed another thread!!

No you haven't, I totally agree with you, and it's a bonus, that I don't have to spend my working time putting my comment into such a succinct post.
You've said it all. And very nicely too. :Razz

[thefugitive1993]

Oh deary me your heart will be pounding rapidly now at the downturn in profits all those years of hard work might not be giving you such a healthy return.....hee hee..... ;)
Did I mention I do a mean mouth to mouth and a bit of heart massage.....:eek:
just in case your on your uppers and should need to rely on your friends.
Oh Alice, I feel a downturn in my fortunes already. Conventional surgery is sounding like a poor second!

[Alice in Blunderland]

Oh Alice, I feel a downturn in my fortunes already. Conventional surgery is sounding like a poor second!
Dont worry the good old NHS will always be there for you money or not ;):D

[thefugitive1993]

Dont worry the good old NHS will always be there for you money or not ;):D

Lovely caring people, and a thorny subject...

[Alice in Blunderland]

Lovely caring people, and a thorny subject...
Ha Ha agree with you on this one :D

[Blazing Sporrans]

Perhaps I'm being too simplistic fugitive, however your first point says that your product harms no-one, yet you go on to say in your second point that you get unlimited free beer and TV - hardly the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. So as far as I'm concerned, your first two points confound one another. We don't need free beer and a glut of TV. Look what's happening to society around us when you already have to pay for your alcohol!!

And if I invented a cure for cancer, I'd license it to a number of pharmaceutical companies on the basis that profits were kept to an absolute minimum and to ensure that it remained a competetive market without just one company owning the rights to the wonder drug. As for me, I'd maybe make some money ancillary to the discovery itself, through lectures, TV and books and that'd be enough. Such a discovery would belong to the whole of mankind and the relief of suffering should transcend the personal greed of one individual.

Interesting thoughts from everyone though - it's nice to see something morally challenging on here once in a while.

[scorrie]

Does anyone else think of Alex from A Clockwork Orange when they read scorrie's posts? I'm being serious. Honest!

Do you have anything worthwhile to post concerning the subject of the thread?

Although I find it flattering that you think about ficticious characters when reading my posts, and follow my writings like a little dog at the Master's heel, I am sure that it must be tedious for other readers to see the thread broken up by your whimsical fantasies concerning my personality.

I have never read A Clockwork Orange. From the reports I have heard, it would be way too violent for my sensitive soul.

You are wasting your time trying to second-guess my character, there is no little pigeon-hole with my name on it ;o)

[scorrie]

No you haven't, I totally agree with you, and it's a bonus, that I don't have to spend my working time putting my comment into such a succinct post.
You've said it all. And very nicely too. :Razz

I was hoping to read what others thought about the double-edged sword of the advances in medicine. It seemed that the thread went very quiet after my reply.
Thanks for your response.

[crayola]

Do you have anything worthwhile to post concerning the subject of the thread?

Although I find it flattering that you think about ficticious characters when reading my posts, and follow my writings like a little dog at the Master's heel, I am sure that it must be tedious for other readers to see the thread broken up by your whimsical fantasies concerning my personality.

I have never read A Clockwork Orange. From the reports I have heard, it would be way too violent for my sensitive soul.

You are wasting your time trying to second-guess my character, there is no little pigeon-hole with my name on it ;o)I don't need to second guess your character, I already know it and I'm trying to help you to know it too. You'll never reach inner peace if you struggle against the turmoil. The journey is hard and fraught with irregular and sharp boulders but you won't accept my help. It's your loss but so be it.

Anyways, I wasn't referring to the book but to the part played by Malcolm McDowell in the movie. I can see him and hear him if I stick 'brothers' on the end of your sentences. You should watch the film if you want to see where I'm coming from.

End of.

[JAWS]

1. Yes
2. Don't care
3. So what? The nature of the product is irrelevant.

As one pathologist one told me, "If we find a cure for cancer tomorrow then something else would immediately become the Big Killer we would be frantically trying to find a cure for."
As for the "immortality" scenario that is just so much smoke and mirrors!

[scorrie]

I don't need to second guess your character, I already know it

To paraphrase an old saying, the Lady is suffering from "Delusions of Manure"

[scorrie]

As one pathologist one told me, "If we find a cure for cancer tomorrow then something else would immediately become the Big Killer we would be frantically trying to find a cure for."

As for the "immortality" scenario that is just so much smoke and mirrors!

Mmm, Pathologist or no Pathologist, I find it hard to believe that, if cancer were cured, another, equally lethal disease, would suddenly appear.

Of course, heart disease would then become "public enemy number one" but it is folly to suggest that everyone cured of cancer would perish, within the same timescale, from heart disease instead.

I know that quoting a Pathologist sounds impressive but, like the hard teacher, I would have to ask to see the working behind such a sweeping statement.

As for the smoke and mirrors statement, you provide nothing to back your opinion up. The fact is that we ARE living longer and the proportion of older people is getting higher.

Without getting too technical the following link provides some thinking on the matter:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4012797.stm

If you look at medical advances over the past generation and consider what could be possible in the not too distant future, it is pretty small-minded, in my opinion, to dismiss the possibilities as "smoke and mirrors"