ABSTRACT
Many kinds of experimentation surround and infect our lives, from the early stages of testing on unproved drugs to purchases of consumer goods both large and small, and including our labors in workplaces that may include exposure to toxic chemicals and dangerous machinery. By an order of magnitude more frightening were some of nature's continuing experiments with human health, of which the most troubling was the rise of Ebola in West Africa. Society has a stake in all these experiments, many of which it directly promotes and often encourages because of the benefits of the innovations they bring. A special problem in assessing experiments on large numbers of people is the case in which a product or activity affects only a certain persons adversely. Decision makers must consider the importance of information, including information about uncertainty, about the potential consequences—both positive and negative—of experimentation.
