# PSH \[Philip Seymour Hoffman\] has died; discuss drugs and addiction here **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 4, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psh-philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died-discuss-drugs-and-addiction-here/680477 "2014-02-04T05:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psh-philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died-discuss-drugs-and-addiction-here/680477/81 "2014-03-05T18:08:31Z")
> [@andros](#): > > So you’re fine with the idea that “smart” manifests in different ways? > > Aren’t we going around in circles here? I’m pretty sure we discussed this in this thread already. Do you have the notion that anyone who makes a stupid choice is automatically a stupid person? You may be going around in circles but I’m not. I said there is no dumb luck involved in not engaging in something known to be egregiously stupid. Hoffman himself told perfect strangers he was killing himself. We can feel sad for him and we can condemn him. they are not mutually exclusive events. It’s not a very tall horse to sit on to make basic observations of poor decision making. He had wealth and the free time to fix himself after the first mistake. It was stupid to take the drug in the first place with what we know about it. The risks greatly outweighed the benefits from day one. He knew he screwed up and certainly the people around knew it and he still drove over a cliff with every available asset to save himself in hand. The best argument you can make on his behalf is that he was an emotional cripple. And that works well for the person living under a bridge with nothing and nobody. Hoffman had the tools to undo the poor decisions he made. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psh-philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died-discuss-drugs-and-addiction-here/680477/82 "2014-03-07T05:52:11Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > You may be going around in circles but I’m not. I said there is no dumb luck involved in not engaging in something known to be egregiously stupid. Hoffman himself told perfect strangers he was killing himself. > > We can feel sad for him and we can condemn him. they are not mutually exclusive events. It’s not a very tall horse to sit on to make basic observations of poor decision making. He had wealth and the free time to fix himself after the first mistake. > > It was stupid to take the drug in the first place with what we know about it. The risks greatly outweighed the benefits from day one. He knew he screwed up and certainly the people around knew it and he still drove over a cliff with every available asset to save himself in hand. > > The best argument you can make on his behalf is that he was an emotional cripple. And that works well for the person living under a bridge with nothing and nobody. Hoffman had the tools to undo the poor decisions he made. “Fix himself”? That is one of the stupidest fucking things I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psh-philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died-discuss-drugs-and-addiction-here/680477/83 "2014-03-07T06:19:21Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Do you have the notion that anyone who makes a stupid choice is automatically a stupid person? This is not merely a stupid choice. Hoffman had to _work_ to be this stupid. He’s like the guy who drives around the boom gates and gets killed by the oncoming train. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psh-philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died-discuss-drugs-and-addiction-here/680477.md?page=4)