How Much Is a Human Worth? (according to engineers)

Practical Engineering · 646.9K views · 2023-10-17 · 14:35

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Overview

Practical Engineering explains how engineers and agencies put a dollar value on a human life to weigh cost against safety. It covers the legal and regulatory basis for these calculations.

On Hacker News

HN commenters cite it as an interesting look at valuing human life, used in safety and liability discussions.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2023–2025

Topics

Civil engineering & construction Microeconomics & behavioral economics Law, policing & justice

What people said

TriangleEdge · 2023-12 · Recommendation
Seem to me like the prosecution is irrationally scared of something they don't understand. When personal data is leaked, no one gives a shit. I got downvoted to smithereens for commenting on HN that I thought the post about Steve Wozniac being in the hospital was perverted. But if you leak something from a business, then life in prison? People value their life at about $10m. There's a video I found interesting on a YT channel called practical engineering. [VIDEO] .
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fuoqi · 2025-08 · Reference
>I don't think you can apply a price to a human life Not only we can, but it also done routinely. For example, see this Practical Engineering video: [VIDEO]
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wtfwhateven · 2023-10 · Reference
"the safety benefits are not worth the costs" is a determination government agencies already make with many things[1]. [1]: [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by Practical Engineering, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

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