I know Woebot had a thread a while back about euthanasia, but this is a bit different - I want people's personal view on it.
Motivated by two things:
1) Reading "Atomised" - specifically the discussions about how no one wants to get old and be trapped in a failing body, he refers to Deleuze and Debord both committing suicide from a desire to not watch their physical forms fail around them (as well as the books frequent suicides for various reasons).
2) Visiting my dad in hospital after having a heart valve replaced - he's doing fine, but it's the first time since I was very little that I've been into a hospital, never mind the cardio-vascular wing where there's a lot of old people and smokers clearly not long for this world, in this horrible environment, hooked up and barely functioning.
At the moment, although young, I have a very strong aversion to the eventual decay of my body, and I think I'd choose suicide while in relatively good health rather than a slow painful decline. But I suspect that as I grow older, my desire to hang on to life at any cost will grow... which seems somehow disappointing.
So, do you think you are the kind of person to take the swift route, or would you undergo a lot to stay alive?
Motivated by two things:
1) Reading "Atomised" - specifically the discussions about how no one wants to get old and be trapped in a failing body, he refers to Deleuze and Debord both committing suicide from a desire to not watch their physical forms fail around them (as well as the books frequent suicides for various reasons).
2) Visiting my dad in hospital after having a heart valve replaced - he's doing fine, but it's the first time since I was very little that I've been into a hospital, never mind the cardio-vascular wing where there's a lot of old people and smokers clearly not long for this world, in this horrible environment, hooked up and barely functioning.
At the moment, although young, I have a very strong aversion to the eventual decay of my body, and I think I'd choose suicide while in relatively good health rather than a slow painful decline. But I suspect that as I grow older, my desire to hang on to life at any cost will grow... which seems somehow disappointing.
So, do you think you are the kind of person to take the swift route, or would you undergo a lot to stay alive?