If you had a choice between having your phyisical health decline or your intellectual function deteriorate which would you choose and why?
I’ve had an on-going debate with several friends about this question and most of them would have their brain go before their body. I don’t understand their reasoning.
If this has been asked before, I apologise. I couldn’t find it when I searched.
I have a standing request out to my friends to surreptiously push me off a cliff should my mental faculties start to fail.
I fully intend to suicide upon the first diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, just in case I forget to do it later.
sur·rep·ti·tious·ly
Physical health . . . I’ve got a lot to waste before I’m in trouble and with people who like me, it’s because of my brain first.
I’d let my body go before my brain. I am, of course, very proud of my physical health (two years and counting since my last case of flu, a superb cardio-pulmonary system, BMI of around 21), but I value the squishy 1.5 kilos of myelin and neurons called my brain more than the squishy 65 kilos of everything else called my body.
I think I’ll get my friends to implant my brain in a robotic exoskeleton if my physical health declines before a certain point… I’m not afraid of heights, but hey…
“Your body is just your head’s way of getting from place to place.”
-Dave Thomas (the SCTV guy, not the Wendy’s guy)
neither
Three who’d let the physical go and none who’d let the mind go. Interesting, the poll with my friends has the mind going rather than the body about 6 out of 10 times.
Two physician friends also insisted they’d rather have their mind go-reasoning that they would rather be unaware of their own physical deterioration.
Of course neither would be best.
My brain houses my mind. My mind is who I am.
Cut off my hand, and I’m still me.
Destroy part of my brain, and . . . am I “me” anymore? And, at that point, would “I” care?
I’d rather be riddled with cancer and in horrible pain rather than, e.g.,have a stroke and lose part of my mental function.
At least if I have cancer, I can make the informed choice to kill myself and then enact it.
Uck. I can’t believe there’s people out there who’d let their mind go instead of their body. Bodies are nice, don’t get me wrong. But I can think of about a gazillion things I can still do very well if my mind is sharp, but my body sucks. I can’t think of anything I can do well if my mind is gone.
My mother is suffering from Alzheimers and although she is still alive, there is nothing of her left. We are now just sitting and waiting for the end. There are very few people I would wish that on, especially myself.
Stephen Hawking seems to be doing just fine, in my opinion. I’m sure it’s not very convenient to be him, but at least he’s still him.
I’m with the majority here. I simply cannot imagine anyone preferring to lose the mind over the body.
When either one deteriorates to the point that I can no longer live independently, I’m checking out.
My grandmother has Alzheimer’s & hasn’t known who she is for the past five years. Physically, she’s in fine shape, but I wouldn’t want to be her.
OTOH, a friend of mine in college died of cancer…his mind was fine up til the end, but his body was just ravaged beyond recognition, both by the disease and by the treatments. I could never suffer like he did, those last 3 months. I’m not strong enough.
Well, given that my physical body’s already pretty crappy, I say stick my brain in a jar o’ science juice and rig it up to some kind of communication machine so I won’t get bored.
Though if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to keep my eyes, feeble as they are. Maybe I could still do my job.
I just want to say that I’m wearing my favorite T-shirt right now – my “Brains of Steel” shirt from the U of Chicago.
Body can go to hell (heck, it’s halfway there). On the other hand, I’ve always thought that if I had to choose between keeping my vision and keeping my hearing, hearing wins. I’m already extremely nearsighted, and if I couldn’t enjoy music anymore, life would be pretty drab.
I would like to keep my brain til the bitter end, even if I am only a brain.
Although I would imagine it would be hard to get around without a body, with my brain intact I could figure out a way to do it.
Plus, physical appearance is by no means as important to me as mental faculties. I could fall in love with someone who doesn’t have the best packaging in the world, but if he wasn’t intelligent there would be no chance in the world.
I’d rather lose my body than my mind. Why? Watch the ending of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Considering my mind is half way gone already I may as well let it leave me completely. My career aspirations are more body related anyhow (soccer).
::paging Stephen Hawking . . . ::