To quote the great philosopher Van Morrison:
from here.
Are you willing to take the chance that the alternative (which nobody has apparently seen) is better than what you’re experiencing now? I’m not. That’s too big a bet for me.
To be the best and enjoy life to the fullest
It is my belief that Existence itself is purpose. To exist and help others to have a good life is a pleasure. I enjoy seeing a smile on the face of some one else.There is so much good to see, one just has to look at a smiling baby, a happy puppy etc.; to me that makes life worth while.
I continue life because I have an instinct to. Those who came before me who did not have that instinct did not live long enough to reproduce.
I like being alive and I’d like to keep doing so for as long as I can. While here, I’m doing my best to find what happiness I can and try to help others do the same. Family and heirs may come into play, but they certainly don’t have to. If you really need a reason beyond that, good luck to you.
Simple. I don’t think there is anything next.
sorry. I thought the smilie face indicated I was kidding. Obviously, I haven’t committed suicide yet.
I think the answer to your question is (honestly) why not? What would cause a person to want to die one day over the next? There is something deeper, more fundamentally wrong with that person. Logic can’t be used to understand any decisions about life and death when someone takes there life and there is no obvious reason (terminal illness, for example)
Don’t you want to learn who wins this season of Survivor?
Arguments against suicide are usually of dubious logic, but they seldom get challenged because there is an unwritten rule that only upbeat messages are acceptable.
The example of someone going to college before committing suicide is not inherently irrational. In fact, it’s not even a complete argument.
Plenty of people set objectives before they die, what’s the issue with saying: “Right now I’m living just to get <this> done. When it’s finished, I’m finished”?
Another thread on SD right now is about the meaning of life and as usual many are simply saying that it is the pursuit of happiness.
Let’s say that this makes sense. So, if “pursuit of happiness” is a rational reason to live, why is “escaping suffering” not a valid reason to die?
It’s a quote from Babylon 5, but it struck me to the core anyway.
“We are the Universe, manifest, trying to figure itself out.”
I need no further purpose than that, and maybe a healthy dose of hedonism thrown in. I have no heirs, certainly, and while I have nephews and nieces, I don’t live for them. I wonder about parents who live for their children anyway! All too often I’ve seen what happens when the child doesn’t live up to their expectations. Better to love your children as much as possible and raise grown-ups you respect and could even admire.
Honestly, I think I was born in a great time and live in a pretty darn good country. Easy access to birth control, don’t have to get pregnant, don’t have to get married, all I have to do is make enough money to put on my table. Sure, there’s some things I wish were different, but another spring is coming soon and another year and I look forward to every little adventure. It’s all we get! What’s the alternative?
No one knows happens to our individuality after death, yet we all die someday. Why not stick around as long as possible just in case there is no individuality left after the death of your body?
(My personal opinion as I don’t believe in souls and think once my brain is dead and gone, so am I).
To experience wonder.
And what’s the issue with saying: “There is a purpose in recieving a high school diploma. Even if I’m then going to go to college just so that I can commit suicide.”
If you have no purpose or meaning apart from perpetuating the species, then what’s the point of perpetuating the species at all? If life, in and of itself, isn’t worth living, then what makes you think that creating more lives is worthwhile?
Life has whatever meaning and purpose you choose to give it. The same is true of your children, and their children. Some people find it tremendously fulfilling to raise a family. That doesn’t make it the be-all and end-all of the entire human experience.
There was a similar thread about a year ago in which I gave the following repsonse
Sorry I don’t get your argument.
I had thought that your hypothetical person was going to college for some important reason, prior to dying. Going to college “just so that I can commit suicide” doesn’t make any sense to me.
Could you spell out your argument please?
Same here. Dying’s for chumps.
I like this.
Robots pay taxes?
Just wanna thank everyone who responded in whatever manner. I lost my only son 5 years ago today, and every once in a while, I think of my life and find it completely joyless.
My apologies to those who thought my question was denigrating childless individuals and couples. It was not. I was selfishly just thinking of myself alone.
Mods, if you want to close this topic, you may.