The Odd Man Hypothesis is proposed to be the idea that in a life-or-death crisis situation affecting multiple people, single men are more likely to make the “right” decision. This is applied in the book to the destruction of the Wildfire facility, which would kill all the personnel. This raises several issues.
- First, should the lives of the members of the entire facility in the hands of one man? If the people gave their consent, then it could be considered okay, but if they only found out about it after the start of the project, then they would be unknowingly entrusting their lives to him.
- Second, can simple statistics be used to decide who to pin their lives on? While the hypothesis makes sense on paper, it still leaves gaps in its dependability when in practice.
- It does add up that a person unattached to other people would be able to approach the situation objectively, but can it really be relied upon in deadly circumstances?
- If your life was in the hands of this "best decision maker" how would you feel? Do you agree with the results of the study?
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