Poll: Can suicide be rational?

[quiet_samurai]

NO.

Go get drunk, or laid, immerse yourself in something new, do drugs, find a g/f or b/f. Seriously unless you paralyzed or so sick to the point of not experienceing life at all nothing warrants killing yourself.

Except of course being beaten in battle and bringing dishonor to yourself and your lord.

 

[CipherMachine]

Suicide is rational. If you're truly miserable and have no way to change the situation in the long term it's a way to stop being miserable. Yet, it's a completely selfish impulse. To end it all ignores the grief your death will cause to those close to you. Also, I don't think insurance covers suicide so you force your family to pay for your funeral. Those to tend to stop and suicidal impulses I've had. Another generally unconsidered consequence is that one suicide causes a ripple effect in the community. It familiarizes others with the concept and makes it seem to be more common then it actually is. The Unselfish consequence is you remove a scarcity. By dying you eliminate a mouth that needs to be fed allowing more to be spread out. Not a huge impact on a global scale though. The problem with suicide is it never goes away completely once you accept it as viable solution. I was 7 when I started to have suicidal thoughts (Yay Zoloft!) due to what was going on around me and the thought still pops up from time to time even though its been about 11 years now. What stops it from being the right choice is the grief you cause to others, the funeral, and the ripple effect. That's why to win an argument with a suicidal person you really should only have to bring up these facts and you'll win except in cases of terminal physical pain.

 

[GothmogII]

I think it's downright, plain and simple idiocy for humans to think they understand death and it's implications for them to even consider suicide. It's like an ant in a microwave deciding to shoot themselves in the head

Well...just saying, if -I- were trapped in a microwave, I'd probably want to kill myself, you do know how a microwave works right? Death would be preferable.

 

[BlackKraken]

Since when are humans rational anyway?

I chose yes, mainly for the cancer sufferers and people with terminal illnesses.
If you know your going to die painfully then it makes sense to think about suicide.

But seriously, humans + death NEVER = rationality. We all have a (very healthy) fear of death and so will be (for the most part) averse to the very idea that someone would actually want to die, regardless of whether its rational or not.

 

[insanelich]

To refine my earlier post after these six pages.

Suicide is rational when you're merely choosing your method of death over choosing to die significantly before you'd otherwise die; or when the remainder of your life would be filled with pain and suffering.

And suicide is rational when it's a sacrifice for the good of others.

But I've seen idiots that are truly deeply offending in their stupidity; I feel myself disgraced for just sharing a species with them.

Suicide is the greatest expression of your own freedom there is. It is truly the greatest, most important decision a person can do. To claim a right to decide for someone else if they are allowed or not is incredibly arrogant, to the point I doubt you can understand anything about people, as blinded by your own hubris as you are.

And to those who say it's a coward's way out; a weakling's way; a selfish decision; that there's things they could easily do to improve their situation...

Well, first of all you're idiots of incalculable caliber and somewhat explain George Walker Bush if you're frequently appearing enough.

And secondly, a death is almost never a life-ending process. (For other people than the one dying, obviously.) A person can truly be a burden to those around them; and as painful as the suicide of someone close to you can be, their continued living could well be worse, no matter what you would feel like when confronted with the situation.

Suicide isn't always selfish act.

Choosing your fights is important. Some fights you just cannot win. Continuing to fight on is not always the best decision; for you or others. Sometimes, all that awaits you is loss and pain.

Suicide isn't always a cowardly act.

No amount of strength can overcome some obstacles. The failing of one's body will turn even the strongest heart unable to overcome what life throws at them. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If life gives you shit, suddenly the analogy doesn't work.

Suicide will end all problems. It's a part of it's beauty - the most essential part of it's beauty.

Suicide is never a sign of weakness.

And to improving your life... this, here, is where the colossal idiocy starts. I already said that people in the other points made George Walker Bush perfectly understandable. This point takes that stupidity, then scales it in a way beyond any terms. Think of a supermassive black hole compared to a quark; a difference in magnitude too large for humans to meaningfully comprehend.

When a person is suicidal all of those strategies fail instantly. Army and similar options result in loss of freedom; a thought for many more significantly more scary than death.

Getting a job and such in general are impossible for someone depressed enough to be suicidal; depression causes significant side effects that will get them fired.

They could live on the streets and try to bum it out, but that is more like the thing causing people to go suicidal rather than helping them.

And to top it off money rarely helps depression, because depression is a fair bit deeper than just being broke. Depression is a fair bit deeper than not getting laid. Depression is a fair bit deeper than any of these ordinary day worries. And getting friends / a significant other - while often helpful - can also easily prove impossible for these people.

So, to summarize this last point: If you say something like that and mean it... what the hell has to be wrong with you?

 

[vampirekid.13]

i think a fully rational person can come to the conclusion that suicide is a solution to whatever their problem is.

our society has made suicide seem so bad, when it really should be at the persons discretion.

a cancer patient that just want to end it because it isnt getting any better is a perfectly logical person and death is a perfectly suitable answer.

 

[CipherMachine]

NO.

Go get drunk, or laid, immerse yourself in something new, do drugs, find a g/f or b/f. Seriously unless you paralyzed or so sick to the point of not experienceing life at all nothing warrants killing yourself.

Except of course being beaten in battle and bringing dishonor to yourself and your lord.

1)Actually since Alcohol is a depressant this would probably make suicide more likely in the end.
2)That might work if you find someone willing to shag your self-loathing ass.
3)Should work if you begin to value the certain something you immerse yourself in and all goes well.
4)That's bad, just cause it's a huge waste of money. Also, it's not socially acceptable.
5)I assume that's who you'd be getting laid by.
& 6) Yes, so it is written so it shall be!

 

[rabidrabbit]

I believe suicide can be thought of and even committed rationally, in that you look at what life has to offer; the good and bad, then decide if it's worth going threw the bad for the good. Pretty much the same thing most think of if they're deciding to stay in a relationship or not.

 

[GothmogII]

I think it's downright, plain and simple idiocy for humans to think they understand death and it's implications for them to even consider suicide. It's like an ant in a microwave deciding to shoot themselves in the head

Well...just saying, if -I- were trapped in a microwave, I'd probably want to kill myself, you do know how a microwave works right? Death would be preferable.

Good point. I change 'microwave' to 'place which does nothing to you other than affect you with time' k?

Aye that'll do better.

 

[JohnSmith]

Yes but only if there are zombies present, or some equally worse than death fate. Having said that as an atheist worse than death really doesn't cover a lot of ground.

 

[Lord Kofun]

I am very surprised as to the current trend of votes. I cannot help but think that suicide simply cannot be reasoned. I am not saying that I have experienced the apex of grief, but I would imagine that any problem can be conquered with enough support and willpower. This is not to say that every person has those requisites, but I believe that one SHOULD be able to withstand grief to the point of warding off thoughts of taking your own life.

Call me naive.

 

[jdog345]

No. Rational people don't kill themselves. I have no respect for anyone who commits suicide. In the past two years at my school, 3 students have died. One committed suicide, while the other died of diabetic shock, and the third from brain cancer. He was a freshman in high school, and he died of fucking brain cancer. Meanwhile, we have this other kid who was picked on by a portion of his class, but he still has friends. I know bearing the brunt of people's jokes sucks, and it is not right at all to ostracize someone like that, but he did have his friends who cared about him, and thought he was a good guy. So what does he do? Hangs himself on a bike chain. Fuck you, dude. I was in a few classes with the cancer patient. He was one of the nicest kids I ever met. Him and I would always debate about what was better, lacrosse or baseball. We got along. He spent his last 2 weeks alive in a coma. He had hopes and dreams, and he died at 15 years old. Then you have this asshole who killed himself, deliberately leaving friends and family distraught,all because some other worthless douchebag called you names.

 

[scotth266]

Define your terms, Euthanasia is suicide and no one in there right mind (God botherers are automatically insane due to the invisible omnipotent Jewish zombie carpenter issue)

Ok, I'm not normally offended when I see people talk negatively about religion here on the Escapist. I like to be open-minded, and I understand that people do not share my views. But this? That's WAY over the top.

My opinion: Suicide is always irrational. There is always a way to solve your problems, as long as you're alive. Once you're dead, there's no way to fix things.

Edit: Humans are naturally irrational anyways.

 

[NeoDeath90]

Why don;t you go to the suicide victim;s house and ask him yourself?

Seriously though, who knows better than the victim whether it;s rational or not? If it;s rational to them, and they took that information with them, then how are we to know if it was rational or not?

 

[insanelich]

My opinion: Suicide is always irrational. There is always a way to solve your problems, as long as you're alive. Once you're dead, there's no way to fix things.

Oh.

Since a lot of people have problems that cannot be solved with anything man can do, I guess they should just pray for a miracle.

From an invisible omnipotent Jewish zombie carpenter, I suppose.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Suicide can be a rational decision if you can logically prove that either A) You really do have nothing to live for, B) The world really would be better off without you, C) You are in a great amount of pain from an incurable terminal disease, or D) Any combination of the above.

 

[Rigs83]

I would consider suicide rational if a person was faced with having to suffer a torturous death (or have a loved one suffer that fate)if they choose to not take their life themselves. Certain criminal organizations and cults use the the threat of torture and death to someones family to maintain a code of silence among it's members.