Ask HN: What are your thoughts on suicide? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What are your thoughts on suicide?

2 pointsbradleysmith5 comments

When Aaron Swartz' passing was making it's rounds through HN, I noticed a STRONG conflict here in people's acceptance, or lack there-of, with regards to suicide.

I just read the article on the frontpage on the Buddhist monk confronting suicide culture in Japan, and had read previously about Tojimbo cliffs where many young Japanese men go to die, and felt a similar dissonance from the comments.

Having lost friends and family-of-friends to self-induced death, and having felt some dissonance about the acceptability of suicide as an idea or behavior, I thought that I would ask y'all.

How does HN feel about suicide? Irresponsible and irreverent waste of opportunity? final personal right and exertion of control over personal experience in a chaotic universe? disrespectful drag on human betterment?

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I think some people feel overwhelmed and trapped and suicide often seems like the only option. I don't think it's a waste of opportunity, but I think it's very sad that some people feel so stuck.

When Aaron died, I felt sad that I'd never see him again and that he wouldn't be around to fight things anymore, but I don't feel like it makes someone a bad person, I feel like maybe we should all do a better job of trying to understand where people are coming from and accept that there's always more going on that people share.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about re: a man's right to choose death.

At the risk of sounding a bit nihilistic, we are just organisms on a spinning rock in space and (I guess) our purpose is to propagate our DNA? What if your DNA is shit, though? I've got an anxiety issue I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Half of my days on this earth are spent in what can best be described as severe jet-lag due to anxiety-related sleep issues.

Because of this, I feel very little joy, have difficulty with a 9-5 job and my relationships suffer, big-time. Girls like me well enough, but I've chosen to stay single and not reproduce because I don't think anyone should have to go through what I've gone through. I fear passing my shit onto someone else.

On top of all that, the world we live in is just monstrously horrible. Most of the world's resources are held by a very, very small minority of the uber-rich and the rest of us are in pseudo-slavery to them. If a part of the world doesn't matter to this group, fuck it, let them die of ebola or whatever.

So getting back to the point, if I want to make a rational decision to kill myself, similar to my rational decision not to reproduce, why shouldn't I be able to do that? If my life doesn't bring me any joy and my presence is a net-negative to humanity, why wouldn't I do it?

I should note that I absolutely will not kill myself because I have family that would be devastated/scarred, including some young nephews and a niece. I won't do that to them. I've chosen to live it out and do whatever I can to minimize the pain.

I think everyone has the right to suicide, and virtually nobody should do it. Exceptions being hopeless, painful, imminent death.

Don't do it, you might miss something.

Perfectly stated. I'd like to change word in your sentence though.

> Don't do it, you WILL miss something.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses.

This post wasn't in consideration of suicide myself, just interested in the dissonant thoughts on it here. There is probably a visibility bias in who would feel compelled to answer this question in the first place. There was a suicide recently at a Burning Man event in Utah that had spurred a lot of thought as well. The reactions were so widely varied and intensely personal, I found it intriguing.

I used to react with scorn towards suicide, as though the person had taken something from anyone that cared for them. I've relented from this attitude though. A few examples of the act (Hunter S Thompson and Socrates, in particular) made me consider it in a different light.

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