Just an anecdote, I'm not downplaying the man's achievement;
I've been donating plasma a lot for the past three years and one thing I noticed is how obsessed the people at the center are with the number of donations one has made. People talk about it all the time, they ask you how many you've done as if measuring your worth, the nurses congratulate you on reaching certain thresholds and they even give you label pins with the number on it, the number is plastered in huge font on the website when you take an appointment. The old men (because they are always men) who have made 1000+ donations talk to you about how you can make certain types of donations that count as 3 at once.
I find it disappointing how gamified the system has been, and how people come to measure each others by the number, which becomes a very tangible karma number. In a way, this game has become their best incentive to get people to donate continuously, given how it's illegal in Canada to pay someone to give blood fluids.
Seems like simple enough utilitarian ethics: good comes of increasing the supply of donor blood, not worrying about the motivation of the donors.
While I do believe more people should donate and it's a trivial thing one can do to save lives, I also arguably have a selfish reason to do it: blood draws keep my iron levels stable, because my body doesn't otherwise process and eliminate it at the rate it should.
I am also a donor, and I'd been wondering the same thing. But then I decided that I am okay with it - people donate for different reasons, and it's the result that matters here.
You can understand why they would want to encourage donors to come back to donate again. It's not a bad thing they're getting you to do, it's harder to get someone who's never donated to do it than someone who is currently donating.
Except this man’s contribution was the fact he had a rare antibody and rather than shy away from donations he gave as much as he could, providing a larger more direct impact to those pregnant mothers that needed his antibody.
What a kind and giving person. Rest in peace James.
What a wonderful man! Thank you James.
God bless. That guy is the closest thing to a real life comic book superhero.
Just an anecdote, I'm not downplaying the man's achievement;
I've been donating plasma a lot for the past three years and one thing I noticed is how obsessed the people at the center are with the number of donations one has made. People talk about it all the time, they ask you how many you've done as if measuring your worth, the nurses congratulate you on reaching certain thresholds and they even give you label pins with the number on it, the number is plastered in huge font on the website when you take an appointment. The old men (because they are always men) who have made 1000+ donations talk to you about how you can make certain types of donations that count as 3 at once.
I find it disappointing how gamified the system has been, and how people come to measure each others by the number, which becomes a very tangible karma number. In a way, this game has become their best incentive to get people to donate continuously, given how it's illegal in Canada to pay someone to give blood fluids.
The first step to a world where people do the right thing for the right reasons, is getting them to do the right thing for any reason.
Seems like simple enough utilitarian ethics: good comes of increasing the supply of donor blood, not worrying about the motivation of the donors.
While I do believe more people should donate and it's a trivial thing one can do to save lives, I also arguably have a selfish reason to do it: blood draws keep my iron levels stable, because my body doesn't otherwise process and eliminate it at the rate it should.
It sounds good, but I think [citation needed]!
In the us it’s all for profit. You give up blood and plasma and get make obscene amounts if money for the executives
I am also a donor, and I'd been wondering the same thing. But then I decided that I am okay with it - people donate for different reasons, and it's the result that matters here.
You can understand why they would want to encourage donors to come back to donate again. It's not a bad thing they're getting you to do, it's harder to get someone who's never donated to do it than someone who is currently donating.
Except this man’s contribution was the fact he had a rare antibody and rather than shy away from donations he gave as much as he could, providing a larger more direct impact to those pregnant mothers that needed his antibody.