Should we execute writers of computer viruses? (link via Amit.) I believe that we shouldn’t, but let me dispose of the invalid reason first – the reason that goes “We cannot put a number on human lives!” We make choices about our own lives all the time. Every time I spend a rupee on pleasure, I take it away from my future medical fund, money that could save my life some day. “Putting numbers” on human lives just involves quantifying choices we make routinely, not descending to a new level of moral depravity.