From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Wed Nov 13 2002 - 01:49:26 MST
Edwin Evans wrote:
> Samantha Atkins wrote:
>
>> Is it rational to go on if you become convinced that there is no
>> reasonable hope or if your world is hell? I would not dare claim I
>> can answer that question for other people or in general. I can only
>> answer it for myself.
>
>
> I often suspect that people look at these questions backwards (though
> I'm not saying you Samantha). That they struggle with a question like
> "Should I commit suicide?" as a separate question from "What should I
> do?" Yet 'commit suicide' is an answer to this initial, fundamental
> question whereas "Should I commit suicide?" is a question that
> probably just came up after internally hearing "Awful feeling! Stop
> the pain! Won't you please stop the pain? I matter!"
>
> I guess I know what your answer to the question is and you can guess
> that I don't agree. I felt I should point out that it would be wrong
> for anyone to struggle with this question by agonizing over whether
> their "world is hell" or whether they have no hope or how it will
> affect family and friends, without ever considering whether they are
> agonizing over totally the wrong things (which I think they probably
> are).
From your wording I don't believe you have any idea what my answer to
this question is or which question I asked myself to get over
considering this possibility completely. It became obvious to me back
when I did consider suicide an option (decades ago) that no matter how
much pain, frustration, helplessness and so on I might be feeling now,
this world and this life was the "only game in town". All possibility,
for ill or good, is here. Even so-called afterlife models have one
coming back to the same or worse until a different choice is made. So
it was rather obvious that "Should I commit suicide" is not the
question. However, I don't begrudge any sentient the right to wrestle
with their pain and options and decide so basic a question for
themselves. I would not presume to answer it for others.
- samantha
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