I am not, in fact, currently depressed, although I have been in the past. But I (in my non-depressed state) respect the feelings, wishes, and preferences of my depressed self, just like those of someone else like Chris.
Many commenters here have reacted to the suicide not with “how must he have felt” but with “how can we prevent more such things from happening?” It seems you think this reveals a lack of empathy or respect
I haven’t said much of anything in response to most comments here; you seem to be extrapolating from things I said in the post. But there I was criticizing specific bad arguments, ones that are encountered in the general culture and not necessarily here ; the remark about lack of empathy was in specific reference to the argument from grief of friends and relatives.
the banal and maudlin point that this was a tragedy and a mistake
That it was a tragedy is certain; unfortunately, that doesn’t automatically imply that it was a mistake.
However, it may very well have been a mistake in Chris’s case. I’m not sure he realized how close he was (a few keystrokes by him or someone else, like me) to the kind of friendship he needed.
But it’s that kind of miscalculation that would make it a mistake, and not the mere fact that other people are sad, or that “we must prevent suicide” is a widespread moral-sounding meme.
I myself am very sad about this, and become more so the more I read his writings. I hope he is not forgotten.
I am not, in fact, currently depressed, although I have been in the past. But I (in my non-depressed state) respect the feelings, wishes, and preferences of my depressed self, just like those of someone else like Chris.
I haven’t said much of anything in response to most comments here; you seem to be extrapolating from things I said in the post. But there I was criticizing specific bad arguments, ones that are encountered in the general culture and not necessarily here ; the remark about lack of empathy was in specific reference to the argument from grief of friends and relatives.
That it was a tragedy is certain; unfortunately, that doesn’t automatically imply that it was a mistake.
However, it may very well have been a mistake in Chris’s case. I’m not sure he realized how close he was (a few keystrokes by him or someone else, like me) to the kind of friendship he needed.
But it’s that kind of miscalculation that would make it a mistake, and not the mere fact that other people are sad, or that “we must prevent suicide” is a widespread moral-sounding meme.
I myself am very sad about this, and become more so the more I read his writings. I hope he is not forgotten.