# If you had to be executed, how would you like to be put to death? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 29, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782 "2018-07-29T22:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/141 "2018-08-02T15:38:48Z")
For those who say that they would prefer to not be informed of the date of their execution, that actually happens in Japan. This practice is widely decried because basically everyday becomes a possibility and you have to wait until the evening to know if you aren’t going to be killed that day. I donno. I get panic attacks over various things, so I’d need a strong done of Xanax for whatever method I’d choose. If I took enough Xanax, I suppose it wouldn’t really matter which of the various “painless” methods. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/142 "2018-08-02T16:37:33Z")
> [@Satchmo](#): > > I’d prefer to be taken out by a meteor, though. (I know, hard to arrange.) [Wrong place, right time.](https://twitter.com/nukestrat/status/1024765262439047182) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/143 "2018-08-02T18:47:34Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > For those who say that they would prefer to not be informed of the date of their execution, that actually happens in Japan. This practice is widely decried because basically everyday becomes a possibility and you have to wait until the evening to know if you aren’t going to be killed that day. > > I donno. I get panic attacks over various things, so I’d need a strong done of Xanax for whatever method I’d choose. If I took enough Xanax, I suppose it wouldn’t really matter which of the various “painless” methods. My notion was that I’d want to not know it was going to happen at all. Like, supposing that this was the result of some sort of formal trial, they would announce that I’d been cleared of charges, send me on my way, and then quietly arrange to pipe nitrogen into my bedroom one night as I slept. I would feel no fear or anticipation of death - I’d just suddenly be dead, never seeing it coming or knowing it had happened. Of course if the government is going to make this their normal way of doing things they’re going to have to figure out some way of explaining my death that wouldn’t make future defendants suspicious about their release. That’s their problem though. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/144 "2018-08-02T19:25:35Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Presuming they won’t let me get away with the technicalities like “old age,” I’d go with death by firing squad as long as it was done traditionally. Eat a last meal the night before, choose a blindfold and cigarette, get asked for any last words, the whole shebang. A cigarette? Don’t you know how bad those things are for you? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![bluffalobob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@bluffalobob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluffalobob)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/145 "2018-08-02T19:52:57Z")
I supposed I’d like to be banished to an uninhabited tropical isle, with no chance of escape. The placed would be stocked with two weeks worth of food and drink. On my ankle would be a tracker so the eye in the sky would know exactly what my coordinates were at any time. Sometime during that two week period (a time picked at random by a computer), a scud missile would be launched, blowing me to bits. Seems like an enjoyable (but stressful) way to spend your last days. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/146 "2018-08-02T20:07:50Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A cigarette? Don’t you know how bad those things are for you? > > Regards, > Shodan Guard offers condemned man a blindfold and a last cigarette. Condemned man turns down cigarette, says “No thanks, I’m trying to quit.” ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/147 "2018-08-02T20:54:08Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I would have to pick a way-over-lethal dose of sleeping pills washed down with really good, really smooth whiskey. If you gotta go, you may as well enjoy the trip. If there is no escape, I vote for this method but the truth is, I don’t wanna go. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/148 "2018-08-02T21:13:22Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > If there is no escape, I vote for this method but the truth is, I don’t wanna go. I’m pretty sure the majority of us aren’t lining up for the electric chair in real life; but if the hypothetical says you gotta go, then you gotta go. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/149 "2018-08-03T01:31:24Z")
I can’t believe that nobody has said ‘drawn and quartered’ yet. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/150 "2018-08-03T06:35:41Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I can’t believe that nobody has said ‘drawn and quartered’ yet. Well i have a delicate throat. Hours of screaming in agony would simply _ruin_ my voice! ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/151 "2018-08-03T12:10:32Z")
> [@dhricenak](#): > > Fugu, prepared by an unqualified chef. No thanks! It’s the same as curare poisoning, you are conscious but unable to breathe, and that takes a couple of hours at least. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/152 "2018-08-03T13:25:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A cigarette? Don’t you know how bad those things are for you? I know, these things will be the death of me! ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/153 "2018-08-03T14:01:25Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Can they anesthetize me enough to remove whatever transplantable organs they want, then finish me off? If they take all my blood, I can get another gallon pin. > > Regards, > Shodan That’s the ethical option. Put me under so deep that I won’t feel anything, then just dissect me to save some lives. Kinda the opposite of the “nothing clinical” option I had above, but for good, utilitarian reasons. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/154 "2018-08-03T14:57:49Z")
Chained to the pilot’s seat of a 747 with throttles full … ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/155 "2018-08-04T12:46:03Z")
I think that being skeletonized by a school of hungry piranha would be a cool way to die. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/156 "2018-08-04T19:35:46Z")
Strapped to a nuclear bomb at a test site. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/157 "2018-08-04T20:02:38Z")
For the one’s planning to OD, this seems like a gentle method: > **[Actiq (Fentanyl) Lollipop Abuse | Opioid Abuse & Addiction](https://drugabuse.com/opioids/fentanyl/actiq-fentanyl-lollipop-abuse/)** > > ACTIQ, a fentanyl lollipop, has a very high potential for abuse and addiction. Learn the signs. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/158 "2018-08-05T03:38:47Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I’m pretty sure the majority of us aren’t lining up for the electric chair in real life; but if the hypothetical says you gotta go, then you gotta go. Says the poster who is fighting they hypothetical in post 143. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782/159 "2018-08-07T12:46:58Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Guard offers condemned man a blindfold and a last cigarette. > > Condemned man turns down cigarette, says “No thanks, I’m trying to quit.” Two Jews are in front of a Nazi firing squad. The _kommandant_ says, “Vould you like a cigarette before you die?” “Keep your cigarette, you murderous Nazi scum!” shouts the first Jew. “Shh, Jake”, says the other Jew. “Don’t make trouble.” Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-be-executed-how-would-you-like-to-be-put-to-death/818782.md?page=7)