Flow-through effects of saving a life through the ages on life-years lived

Abstract

This work argues that historically, saving a life would have had a much greater impact on future human populations than it does today, due to the exponential growth of human population and technology over time. Although people in the past had lower incomes and life expectancies, their lives were still equally valuable, if not more, than those of people today, especially when considering the long-run effects of their actions on the lives of their descendants. – AI-generated abstract.