# Tell me your ideal death. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300 "2007-09-24T14:03:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/61 "2007-09-25T13:33:27Z")
by the sun…when it turns into a red giant and engulfs the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/62 "2007-09-25T14:01:39Z")
Not really bothered just as long as it isn’t by burning. I’m not afraid of death but I’d prefer not to be there when it happens ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/63 "2007-09-25T14:25:01Z")
I’m surprised no one mentioned [this.](http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/20112/Monty_Python_Meaning_of_Life_Part_7_Death.html) **NSFW**. Ideally, it would be post-coital, in my sleep, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, what has already been said. Fantasy – Dragging OBL into the middle of an AQ training ground where he is having a meeting of all the terrorist groups. I would have on a helmet cam that broadcasts to the world my executing him. As the terrorists surrounding me begin to shoot me down, I detonate the backpack nuke I am wearing and wipe them all out. Realistically – I’ll probably die some stupid, demeaning and embarrassing death, like getting my head stuck in a gallon can of Van Camp’s Pork and Beans. It will be a death that will shame my family for generations to come. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/64 "2007-09-25T14:49:20Z")
Instantaneously and not knowing it is coming. Like under a nuclear bomb instantaneous (if only that could happen sans blowing others up and nasty environmental issues). Post coital sounds good for me but what about my partner? Taken from the flip side I’d be more than a little creeped out to have my partner expire next to me moments after having sex. ---
**Author:** ![Qazzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@Qazzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qazzz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/65 "2007-09-25T15:16:19Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] I’d like to die when I’m ready to die. Being able to wrap up my life is important, say goodbye. Something relatively painless and quick, then my body’s going to a med school or something for research. [/QUOTE] Yeah, my biggest fear about dying is that I won’t feel ready for it. I don’t know if that readiness stems from age, love, accomplishments, satisfaction, comfort, or what. But I’d like to go gracefully - choosing to embrace death rather than fight it begrudgingly. I’m not sure if it’s important to me for others to be there. Maybe an animal - a dog or cat or something. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/66 "2007-09-25T15:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Not really bothered just as long as it isn’t by burning. [/QUOTE] Seconded. In the immortal words of James Hetfield - Fire bad. Fire bad! ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIuR5TNyL8Y/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIuR5TNyL8Y?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ETA - Strong language in link, so NSFW ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/67 "2007-09-25T16:24:15Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] ::Edited out size:: That was really funny **Shodan** , did you create that joke or use the framework of one you already knew? Thank you for the laugh, Jim [/QUOTE] My nephew is in Special Forces. He told it to me. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/68 "2007-09-25T16:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] **“DON’T FUCK WITH UNCLE Schwartz WHEN HE’S DRUNK!”** Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] Thanks, that was a good laugh. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/69 "2007-09-25T19:01:30Z")
[QUOTE=Ring] My sister and I were visiting my brother in the hospital. There was a woman in next room screaming in pain, and her daughter was standing outside the room crying. Finally my sister walked over and asked her if she could help. The daughter said her mother was dying and the doctors wouldn’t give her additional pain medication because they were afraid it might kill her. Just let me die somewhere outside a hospital with a minimum of pain and the dignity to at least minimally control my more personal bodily functions. There’s something terribly wrong the medical / political system in this country. I hate the thought of someone suffering terribly, but someone somewhere should reap what they have wrought. [/QUOTE] These rules must vary state by state. My aunt in Upstate New York died of a very painful cancer, but she was allowed to die at home, and take as much morphine as she needed to control the pain. I volunteered for hospice in Washington State, and there, too people on hospice care, at least, were allowed to get whatever they needed to control pain. Allowing the dying control of one’s surroundings and doing whatever it takes to make dying easier are the goals of the hospice movement. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/70 "2007-09-25T19:12:11Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Or if I’m terminally sick: In the woods on a freezing winter’s night, surrounded by the beauty of the crisp white snow, my last sensation the comfortable warmth that comes with hypothermia. [/QUOTE] Yes, I like this one, too. (Probably because I acted in “The Little Match Girl”, a story all about hypothermia visions, in third grade.) Perhaps with a glass or two of brandy to add to the illusion of warmth before the end. But that means that if you were very sick in the summer, you’d have to hang on until winter comes round again. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/71 "2007-09-25T19:18:15Z")
[QUOTE=Tapiotar] Yes, I like this one, too. (Probably because I acted in “The Little Match Girl”, a story all about hypothermia visions, in third grade.) Perhaps with a glass or two of brandy to add to the illusion of warmth before the end. [/quote] But the part before the final illusion of warmth, when your skin is freezing, is excruciatingly painful. About six months ago, someone here linked to a description of death by hypothermia. It was horrifying. > [@Tapiotar](#): > > But that means that if you were very sick in the summer, you’d have to hang on until winter comes round again. Not necessarily. You could just put yourself into a large freezer. “Dear? I don’t remember having this much venison…” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/72 "2007-09-25T20:53:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] But the part before the final illusion of warmth, when your skin is freezing, is excruciatingly painful. About six months ago, someone here linked to a description of death by hypothermia. It was horrifying. [/QUOTE] [Here it is.](http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0197/9701fefreez.html) **Sleel** lionked to it. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/73 "2007-09-25T22:28:05Z")
Profound intoxication, followed by nap, followed by dirt nap. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/74 "2007-09-26T00:06:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] [Here it is.](http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0197/9701fefreez.html) **Sleel** lionked to it. [/QUOTE] Thanks for providing that link. It’s a very interesting account. And it makes sense that someone called **Sunspace** would be especially horrified by freezing to death in the dark! I don’t know how I would want to go. I hope it will be relatively pain free, and that I’ll maintain a sense of humor and perspective, something like that. Be able to let go of this person I’ve been with no regrets, and with some eager curiosity for the new adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/75 "2007-09-26T00:21:27Z")
As long as I’m at least eighty years old, and the explosion is visible from space, I won’t be complaining. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bundykala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@bundykala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bundykala)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/76 "2007-09-26T01:18:35Z")
The first thing that pops into my head when faced with this question is that I want to die by drowning in a huge vat of chocolate. Then common sense kicks in and I realise how unpleasant that would actually be. In reality, I think I’d agree with the “peaceful, painless death in old age” crowd. In the words of Daffy Duck, I’m not like other people. I can’t stand pain. It hurts me. ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/77 "2007-09-26T03:07:11Z")
I’d rather not be aware of the approach of imminent death. Even in many accidents where someone is decribed as being killed instantly, there is strong evidence the decedent remains conscious briefly after the fatal injury (as described in [this classic](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html) by Cecil). Dying peacefully in bed does not guarantee unawareness either–as with most mechanisms of death, the brain can maintain consciousness for several seconds after bloodflow ceases. Joseph Henry Green, a nineteenth century surgeon, is said to have been feeling his own pulse while on his deathbed. He felt his pulse cease, and his last words were “It stopped.” Not a painful way to go, but it still could be considered unpleasant. With that in mind, I have decided that the best way to go is either to have your body completely destroyed instantaneously, or to be unconscious before your death occurs. Since me meeting death by standing next to an atomic bomb is exceedingly unlikely and dying in your sleep is notoriously unreliable, if I had to choose a manner of death I would go with an overdose, preferably of a barbiturate. A narcotic would be an alternate possibility but most people who die of an opiate overdose vomit before death and, although I would likely be unaware, that would lead to an undignified death scene. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/78 "2007-09-26T03:27:17Z")
This went 'round the 'net years ago: “I want to die peacefully, in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like his passengers.” ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/79 "2007-09-26T09:20:54Z")
Alone. In the rain. ---
**Author:** ![Tibidabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@Tibidabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibidabo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300/80 "2007-09-26T12:09:49Z")
Mauled by a polar bear. Just as nature intended. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-ideal-death/420300.md?page=5)