Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/24/mitchell-heisman-suicide_n_738121.html Download the note/book here: http://www.suicidenote.info/ebook/suicide_note.pdf
1,950 page manifesto - the guy was totally nuts and a big coward . Suicide is the easy way out of any problem . But on a more serious note - does anyone really cares ?
I wonder if he gives the reason for putting an end to himself....not exactly an inspiring choice, face value.
It is a natural consequence of consuming hallucinogenic substances while reading Friedrich Nietzsche. Let this be a lesson to you kids. Don't do drugs!(And read Nietzsche).
I took a senior level course on existentialism and phenomenology that included Nietzsche. Given a chance to repeat it I'd prefer suicide too.
Let's not get too down on people who commit suicide. I don't think it's cowardice. "Suicide is what happens when pain outweighs resources for coping with pain."
I know Alexis that pain can drive you mad especially physiological pain . But when you decide to pull the trigger you're giving up on life , you're giving up the fight . You only have one life , there is no such things as a second chance once you're gone , everything is gone . I don't understand those that do pull the trigger . I'd rather endure a eternity of pain trying to reach my goal (even if I won't) rather then chickening out . I've been in hell and I know how horrible every second is there but almost nothing justifies suicide .
If there is a difference in meanings, the person ended his life for what he believed (in)....made sense? More like dieing for (his) cause than suicide....a difference? Not necessarily a reason for Belief over Atheism but for some either would be a waste in not living till a natural finish, as a reason to live, life's conclusion not a choice, making the best of it rather than....... Slightly agree with Alex but not really - but do not think it is at all cowardly. A XL: ".....but almost nothing justifies suicide." The true religion seeks to destroy the Crucifiers who's goal is exactly that outcome.
What a crap load of sweeping statement. Nietzsche was a great intellectual who thought 500 years in advance. His Ubermensch concept is what most intellectuals follow without their knowledge.
My specialty. So only 350 years to go until his thinking is commonplace. From the bits of the suicide note posted here, one might get the idea that this particular intellectual wasn't depressed at all. He was simply reasoning through some of the philosophical concepts he was well studied in, and applying a conclusion he arrived at logically, however illogical the conclusion. Perhaps something not unlike doing a long math problem and arriving at an answer of 1=0. I mention drugs only because putting a bullet in your head as a nihilist experiment to see if life really is the same as death, requires you to override some of the basic safety systems that keep you from harming yourself(and others) on a daily basis. As a philosophical footnote, one could make the case that ivory tower intellectualism can be hazardous to your health. If this man is exhibit A, perhaps the birthrate in Europe is exhibit B.
It isn't always about "chickening out". Sometimes the decision to kill yourself is a logical and thought out process. For that matter, actually going through with suicide, while not a noble thing, does take a lot of balls - it is not an easy thing to do. If you were genuinely a "chicken" you'd most likely fail at suicide.
It does take ball to end it . It takes even more balls to carry on . The only reason I can think of that makes suicide acceptable is if your death will save someone else . Like Rommel did .
A young person is terminally ill, loses the ability to walk, becomes incontinent and is in incredible pain constantly - is this "not acceptable" in your mind? Is it not their RIGHT to end their life if they wish? There are times when suicide DOES make sense - it's still tragic, but that's how it is IMHO.
Seems you are right but I have to ask if you can quote on Nihilism why have you accusing Nietzsche. Nietzsche called on all humans to give up their bad habits and enjoy life and sex to the fullest
Well your situation has one minor what if flaw . Medicine todays churns out wonder drugs every day . What if at the last moment a wonder drugs is there to turn the tide ? What if before you pull the trigger a new painkiller arrives that can give you a few more days of sunshine whit your family ? Even so if the miracle doesn't happen you should never take such a decision . I know that the pain can drive you mad . But that f**ing accursed pain must never triumph over your will to live . And why one Earth should someone in pain commit suicide . Morphine and artificial coma exist . We invest billions in the health system , if you can't fight then at least you can opt to sleep the pain . Death destroys only your body . Suicide destroys you and the ones around you . By hurting those around you whit your last gesture you're kind of denning the purpose of human existence .
Where to start? 1. I'm almost positive you don't know the pain this guy was in; I had major surgery a year ago and lost a massive chunk of flesh (healed now, tiny scar, thankfully) - the pain I was in was so bad that my partner had to hold me down when I started convulsing so that the nurses could see to the massive hole exposing a huge, raw area. I'm not a screamer. I didn't scream when I got hit by a car and I didn't scream when I got shot in the calf with an arrow (long story) when I was 9. But I screamed my head off with no control over it whatsoever when the wound was being cleaned, bandages put on and taken off, packing used, etc. My point with that story is that the pain this guy was in, the one from my example - who was a real person, just like you or me - his pain was still far greater than that - both physically as the end got closer and emotionally. I highly doubt you would know his pain. 2. No one can define the purpose of human existence - and IMHO no one has the right to tell ANYONE whether or not they are allowed to take their own life, provided they are of sound mind. Why should you get the right to choose who lives and dies? I'm guessing you're against an individual's right to choose? Because it sure sounds like that. 3. An induced coma is not always possible, it wasn't in the case of the person mentioned above. Morphine is a joke. For broken bones, it helps, for sure. What it helps though is to numb a pain that is not intense and constant. A broken bone f'ing hurts like hell - but while you lay there not moving it is more a hot, dull, ache. It hurts, but it's not this intense, constant thing. I was given the maximum dose of morph in hospital last time I was there - if you want to know how well that worked out, refer to the screaming story above. There's also the fact that morphine, when taken in high doses, often causes extreme nausea. (I got that. I was given anti nausea pills, Maxalon, which barely helped.) It is not always possible to make pain simply stop - that's it. At the end of the day you can't "opt to sleep the pain". Doctors will not just out a person into an induced coma. There are rules and regulations and even LAWS in many places. That's just how it is. If your last days were going to be filled with you losing more and more control of your body, being in more and more pain - you have the right to decide to die in whatever comfort you can get, while you can still speak to your family, before you lose your voice as well and your pain becomes unbearable for you to feel and for people who love you to watch. A loved one wouldn't want to see you in agony in your final hours. Based on death destroying only your body, but suicide destroying you - I'm guessing there's some religious element here? I thought you were an Atheist but we don't believe in souls.
Thanks fro clarifying he induced coma issue . I was under the impression that it is a procedure that can be used in many cases . I know that morphine isn't enough but it's the most powerful thing we've got . About broken bones , well I've had two motorcycle accidents so far and the broken bones are more of annoyance then pain . I've also had four surgery operation performed on me including two live ones . I suppose I'm kind of biased on the matter of pain since I've been practicing a sport that fortifies the body against pain . I still consider physical pain just a weakness , from my point of view physiological pain is far worst . I would favor the idea of euthanasia over puling the trigger . I don't think I would like my family to remember me in terms of "he got .... and at the end he pulled the trigger" it is a horrible way to remember someone . I find it more acceptable to be remembered opting for a morphine overdose (this can be done quietly even if the laws say other things) then you can be remembered for just "falling asleep and never waking up" . If i had kids I sure wouldn't want them to remember me by "daddy killed himself" . A family where a member committed suicide is nerve racked forever . I've seen that 1st hand and it is beyond horrible . I am Christian and although that might influence my view someone I'm not talking about the soul or anything . It's just about the way a person is remembered and how his final act affects others .
An induced coma can be used in many cases, yes - however there are also a great number of times it can't be done; for example a doctor wont induce a coma only because you're in pain - they'll do it if you being awake is detrimental to your health. Broken bones, yes, are an annoyance - although of course at first they're agonizing - but I wonder what other surgery you've had - like, whether or not it's comparable, or if it's more a standard op - just because that would effect your opinion. Some physical pain is so bad you pass in and out of consciousness - it's messed up. As to euthanasia - it's still suicide. But I'm glad you aren't as opposed to it. Anyway - in my example the guy wasn't a father, he was a son - and his parents supported him due to the fact they were both suffering watching him suffer. I'm aware (personally) of the effects of suicide in a family; but there's a big difference between killing yourself because you're depressed and angry and killing yourself because you only have a short time to live and you're only being kept alive by machines in unbearable pain.
Suicide is a human right. It is the absolute height of effrontery to make the decision to live or die for another person. I also find the criticism of another persons choice in this matter to be both callow and insensitive. My life right now is idyllic almost to the point of seeming like a fairy tale, but this was not always the case. The best that can be said for some periods of my early life is thatbeen I survived. If I had to go through it all again... I'm not sure that I would. Even knowing how awesome my life is now, suicide would still have the far more humane option. I mean, I am glad now that I was too ignorant then to kill myself... but if I was less ignorant then I would have avoided a lot of grief by jumping off a building. Looking forward, years of abuse have left my body a wreck. Things I broke decades ago are coming back to cause me problems now. I am in pain every single day. I made a list of serious health problems the other day and quite frankly I have trouble justifying the effort required to maintain this hardware. We're all born with planned obsolescence; refusing to accept that seems childish. At some point, the pain of continuing to deal with this body will exceed the joy I get out of life. When that day comes, I hope that I have the means and the will to end my own existence. That's the way I would like for my life to end -- an act of conscious will. To my mind, that seems the most human way to die.