Patrick Swayze death market

Earlier this year it was reported that Patrick Swayze had only 5 weeks to live. Subsequently a user created a question on that on Hubdub (http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_Patrick_Swayze_die_before_April_15_2008_3689/view) which resulted in a lot of debate about the morality of death markets (see the comments).

I was interested to note today that Swayze condemned the shoddy reporting of his illness: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42589&c=1

Obviously if you view the price chart on the market you will see that our users quickly came to the conclusion that the story was bogus. Is this an example where a death pool prediction market is actually socially valuable?

HI Nigel.
yes but don't i always? i think (my opinion) to which i am entitled in a democracy, i agree with how you have phrased this.
but i think that all death questions are not necessary,

For once i actually agree with Curios.

my concern is if HD bans death questions whats next? i think it should be left where its at now..if you wanna wager fine, if not thats fine also. seems every time a new user see's their first death question theres always a discussion on the subject. this forum with the link (getsastisfaction) in the patrick swayze question would be very useful for them. they can read the past discussions and get a better understanding as to why HD allows such questions. if HD was to ban death questions i doubt there would be a revolt. i tend to shy away from them. in full disclosure i did make a death question once. it was about a terriost, but i'm guessing he had a family that loved him. should HD allow some death questions? how would they decide which ones are ok? is questions about when a death row inmate will be exacuted ok? might be hard to set the guidelines.

As you see diesel (and welcome back) i degree wholeheartly they have to be done away with when dealing with living people, there is a as they say here a billions stories and still counting so why have any on live,living people that possible never hurt a soul?as to your comment on criminals with a death sentence hanging over there head .if expected could be years before a decision is made . if it is a criminal trial that may eventually carry a death sentence far enough , but that is where it should end just a secondly thought.

I wonder what Patrick Swayze thinks.

Me too, because I doubt he cares.

I'm about to make a death market based on my life just to show how ridiculous all of this is.

well since yout around 19 and if you live to say 85 we got 66 years to wait to collect. :O)

Looks like you got some insight on the market. I better not catch you gaming it!

I sincerely appreciate the question(s) that Nigel has expressed. I was in the middle of that particular death pool market, and was dubbed (as jersjusttrolling) the leader of "The Anti-Death Pool Brigade". So, I hope that those who are interested understand that I was firmly in the corner of banning such questions as being socially irresponsible, with the context of the American Hubdub audience, with particular emphasis on the social responsibity that most American Newspapers and other Media adhere to, with regards to the younger audiences.

At first, I was quite rudely told to 'buzz off', and 'to quit pushing some moral agenda'. I also had quite a few supporters who were highbrowed off the site because of the inflamatory remarks of many who had an opposing view.

We took the 'abusive' conversation to getsatisfaction.com, and the anti-death pool brigade made quite a few convincing arguments, as the opposing side made theirs. I will note now, that truly, the "ONLY" substantive argument the 'Death Pool Pushers' raised, was the issue of censorship.

I responded quite clearly that censorship happens everywhere. While any article "may" be run, the editor-in-chief ALWAYS decides what stories run. In the Hubdub world, that means that Nigel decides what types of stories HIS news media company will run. I tried and cried my heart out to convince Nigel and anyone who would listen that "Death Pool Markets will only damage your reputation in the US market."

I even created some very special Hubdub markets one night. While I am still shamed by those markets, I still stand by the thought that created them. I wanted to ensure that Hubdub addressed this issue responsibly early on.

Well, here we are.

You ask ...
"Is this an example where a death pool prediction market is actually socially valuable?"

What the Heck are you talking about? Socially valuable, NO!
Did that market drive users to the site?
Did that market give Hubdub additional positive press for being a bastion of editorial freedom?
Did that market serve any purpose than to serve some at the expense of the offended?

Nigel, I hope the best for Hubdub. I have truly become an admirer of your style and perseverance.
You are obviously, or at least in my mind, a businessman of note, and are worthy of considerable admiration.

However, from the perspective of your US market at least, you need to take a look at this issue from about 50 miles up. DEATH POOLS IS BAD FOR BUSINESS IN THE MODERN WORLD. Just as it was in the past.

Socially valuable? My A__!

Socially Valuable?

On what terms is something socially valuable? Are those questions really what determines such a thing? I suppose then that anything that is mainstream is socially valuable and anything that only around because of the first amendment is not? I take my role in advocating to keep death markets only because I think it would be a shame to begin censoring the site.

The truth is that none of these markets add much value to society. Trying to weigh out which market is more "valuable" is nonsense. Any value from the site comes from the ease in the transfer of information. Downplaying censorship as a minor restriction is really missing the point. It might be time to take some personal responsibility and focus on things that do not offend. The magnitude of offense taken from mere words is entirely dependent on the receiving party. The words, meant really only to construct ideas, are powerless as weapons without a reaction.

No time soon will I tell you to "buzz off," but I will say that I respectfully disagree.