Originally Posted by
Gauges and Dials
Russian Roulette story....
Let's say someone puts one single bullet in a six-shot revolver, spins the cylinder, points the barrel at your head, and pulls the trigger....
Click!... you lucked out, the chamber was empty.
Where do you and he stand?
In concrete space, you suffered no damages. No harm, no foul.
In probability space, he subjected you to a 1/6 chance of dying, so you are entitled to 1/6 the compensation you might have received had he killed you, and he should be punished with at least 1/6 the punishment of premeditated murder.
If a manufacturer acts negligently -- for example, in an automobile, uses cardboard for brake lining material -- and, as it happens, that negligence doesn't actually cause your injury or death, -- for example, because you happened to notice it before driving down a mountain pass -- has the manufacturer harmed you? Are you entitled to compensation?
It's trickier than it looks, and "you didn't actually suffer any concrete loss" is not necessarily a defense.
Fair point.
But were you
forced to play that game, or did you choose it willingly?
Big difference.