# Hand amputation vs. death **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103 "2005-09-29T22:01:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/41 "2005-09-30T22:13:01Z")
This is how I initially read the below post: > [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > A guy came to speak at my highschool who had **worms**. He’d taught himself to do everything with his feet: drive his car, eat, write, etc. At one point he got us to close our eyes while he played drums and you really couldn’t tell that he was playing with his feet. He could also play the piano. I was thinking…just **how bad** were those _worms???_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/42 "2005-09-30T22:13:58Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > Blindness - total blindness - might, _might_ make me at least think he has a point, but just one hand missing? Not only no, but _hell_ no. I’ve had several blind friends. None had any suicidal tendencies that I know of. I’m quite sure I could deal, even though it’d be difficult. Having a disability doesn’t mean you have a tragic life. You have a life. Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass. But it’s your life, and you find ways to do things because you have to. Humans are adapable. And life is great. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/43 "2005-10-01T01:13:11Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > And who would ever be attracted to a one-handed girl, aside from a pathetic one-handed boy who can’t score a two-handed girl? I guess that makes me some sort of pervert, given that I’m married to someone disabled… Or maybe I value that person for what they _have_ rather than what they _lack_… ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/44 "2005-10-01T01:25:19Z")
Given a choice, I’d get rid of the hand. The only catch is, someone else would have to lop it off. I doubt I have the strength of will to do it myself. Hooks are cool, but a Darth Vader super strong metal hand is way cooler. But, hooks are OK too. Just remember not to scratch yer nuts with a hook. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/45 "2005-10-01T11:39:29Z")
Yesterday evening. A discussion of this thread IRL. My SO: “How would you masturbate?” Me: “Well, you gotta be careful with the hook…” Him: :eek: :eek: :eek: Me: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/46 "2005-10-01T12:11:17Z")
What kind of a job could a one-handed person get? How about a job as a drummer for one of the most successful rock’n’roll bands of all time? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/47 "2005-10-01T13:17:42Z")
Let’s see… one handed job holders… Well, there has been more than one guy in the pro-baseball leagues with just one hand. There have been a number of one-handed pilots, including a captain for the former Eastern Airlines. There’s a double-hand amputee working the air show stunt flying circuit (or at least he was a couple years ago) whose name I can’t remember. There’s a “one-handed repetoire” for the piano, by and for one-handed pianists. The drummer mentioned in the prior post. There are one-handed keyboards available for computers so presumably someone is buying them. A family friend of my family was one-handed and worked for the _New York Times_ as an editor prior to his retirement. There’s probably a LOT of one-handed folks out there holding down jobs that we’ll never hear about because really it’s not _that_ remarkable a thing to do. Not that different from - where I currently work - the deaf accountant working as a supervisor in the finance department, the two blind computer programmers, the one-leg lawyer, and the nice lady down the hallway who just happens to be three feet tall. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/48 "2005-10-01T14:28:59Z")
Well, if science fiction is any indicator of the future, I could have my hand replaced with a bad ass plasma cannon or some other beamy shooty thing. Until then I’d have to make do with the hook. Hell, I’d just go whole hog and get the full pirate get up: eye patch, parrot, snazzy outfit, hat with the skull and crossbones on it. The op is really silly. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/49 "2005-10-01T15:48:01Z")
It could even be fun. Imagine a camp out. They are around the fire, telling scary stories about a deranged killer with a hook (it’s a long tradition after all). At the pre-arranged signal, you fly out of the brush brandishing your gleaming HOOK! The look on people’s faces would be priceless. 😃 Yeah, I’m an evil bastard 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/50 "2005-10-01T16:02:25Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It could even be fun. Imagine a camp out. They are around the fire, telling scary stories about a deranged killer with a hook (it’s a long tradition after all). At the pre-arranged signal, you fly out of the brush brandishing your gleaming HOOK! The look on people’s faces would be priceless. 😃 > Yeah, I’m an evil bastard 😃 Ah, but they would just figure that you were holding a hook in your hand. No, the real practical joke comes in shop class. It is amazing how long it takes people to notice things like a missing hand. So the first day of shop class you bring in a fake rubber hand, some cow blood, and off you go to the table saw. A friend blocks the view, rubber hand and blood on saw, blood on stump… I think that you can imagine the fake screams from the one handed person and the real screams from the shop teacher and rest of class. ---
**Author:** ![PinkNailFile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@PinkNailFile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkNailFile)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/51 "2005-10-01T20:37:31Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > \ Also, I am a huge symmetry freak. I’d just be sitting around looking at my arms all day saying “Still not even! Still not even!” Exactly. The lack of symetry would bother me to the point where I would end up not being able to function. ---
**Author:** ![PinkNailFile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@PinkNailFile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkNailFile)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/52 "2005-10-01T20:39:53Z")
Let me clarify that I would still rather be left-handed for the rest of my life. But… I like the symetry. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/53 "2005-10-01T20:56:21Z")
You folks will be very surprised to learn that [it’s death by over 300 to 1.](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=hand+amputation&word2=death) ---
**Author:** ![blackhobyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blackhobyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackhobyah)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/54 "2005-10-01T23:11:19Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Apparently so. > > But think about it–my career as a writer would be RUINED. There are very few hobbies I could do, especially nothing I do currently, such as knitting or linoleum block printing. Well, from experience, that’s just silly. I injured my left arm badly late last year and spent several months with the whole arm and hand in a rigid cast. Even if I’d wanted to use my left hand I couldn’t for a long while because of the amount of muscle and nerve damage. Admittedly I’m right handed, but for some months I worked (and I write and publish web content for a living), managed five dogs, three horses and twenty acres with one arm, and I live on my own, so I had to do it all myself. During that time one of my cats broke her jaw and I was feeding her through a tube in her throat, still with my arm in a cast. I learned about voice recognition software and got very good at typing with one hand. I’m sure that if you had to, you’d learn to do all the things you’d need to do with your left arm. [Jack Newton](http://saxton.com.au/default.asp?sd8=283) managed to make a new life for himself after losing both his right arm and his right eye in an accident. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/55 "2005-10-02T03:38:56Z")
> [@PinkNailFile](#): > > Exactly. The lack of symetry would bother me to the point where I would end up not being able to function. Just get the other hand chopped off, too. Then you can have TWIN STAINLESS STEEL HOOKS!!! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/56 "2005-10-02T05:33:38Z")
Losing a hand or losing my life? What’s the catch, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103/57 "2005-10-02T22:06:23Z")
Then again, **clairobscur** , it was your country that pioneered hand transplants so perhaps there are some cultural/scientific differences at work??? I think the folks who say “I rather be dead than lose X” fall into several categories: \>\>\> Physically normal in every way - so they’ve never had any experience dealing with being less than perfect. If they had, they’d realize that it’s not as horrible as they think it is, even if it might be inconvenient. \>\>\> They don’t know anyone with a disability beyond mere acquaintance level - if that much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-amputation-vs-death/324103.md?page=2)