You’re only expressing personal preferences, but I feel enormously uneasy to hear you say “Human beings need fulfillment, therefore I’d rather die than be like a paraplegic with wheels”. People who can’t speak, are fed through tubes, get around on wheels, express emotion in nonstandard ways, lack functioning hands, and can’t have most forms of sex, don’t usually want to die, but when they’re murdered by an “angel of mercy” serial killer you get people saying stuff like
How much life did she really take? All of the victims weren’t even living. They enjoyed nothing, experienced nothing and were going to die. The families at the time of death were relieved at the end of suffering . . . I know they had no right to play God . . . but when you decide how much of her life should be taken or lost to prison, shouldn’t it be equal to what was taken from their victims?
Ken Wood, ex-husband of one of the Grand Rapids killers
You might be a very atypical person who’d prefer death to severe disability, but if you are, could you pepper statements like that with disclaimers? That’s kind of a dangerous meme to reinforce.
You might be a very atypical person who’d prefer death to severe disability, but if you are, could you pepper statements like that with disclaimers? That’s kind of a dangerous meme to reinforce.
This idea that we need to censor ourselves when having honest discussions is a meme I would not like to see reinforced. I would propose to work against this meme by arguing emotionally and rationally against it rather than by trying to censor it.
You might be a very atypical person who’d prefer death to severe disability,
Your values are leaking all over your statements of fact. It is not plausible to me that you have not seen the idea of preferring death to severe disability in lots of places at this point in your rational career. From this I conclude your describing those who feel that way as “very atypical” is not only false, but badly motivated as well.
On the (in my estimation) extremely small chance that you really don’t know what a common idea preferring death to severe disability is, google “living will,” “kervorkian” “suicide law oregon” to get a jump start into the large world of people who discuss a myriad of versions and implications of this pretty common meme.
People who can’t speak, are fed through tubes, get around on wheels, express emotion in nonstandard ways, lack functioning hands, and can’t have most forms of sex, don’t usually want to die
You might be a very atypical person who’d prefer death to severe disability, but if you are, could you pepper statements like that with disclaimers? That’s kind of a dangerous meme to reinforce.
Tony Nicklinson’s case is by no means the only one I’ve heard of. How do you know that these people are “very atypical” of the severely disabled?
Of course, the idea does lend itself to rationalisations, and according to this blog post, Ken Wood, who you quoted, is doing exactly that:
This view contrasts sharply with the reality that most of the patients killed were not particularly debilitated and perpetrator Cathy Wood’s own statement that “we did it because it was fun” (quoted in Cauffiel, 1992, p. 254).
You’re only expressing personal preferences, but I feel enormously uneasy to hear you say “Human beings need fulfillment, therefore I’d rather die than be like a paraplegic with wheels”. People who can’t speak, are fed through tubes, get around on wheels, express emotion in nonstandard ways, lack functioning hands, and can’t have most forms of sex, don’t usually want to die, but when they’re murdered by an “angel of mercy” serial killer you get people saying stuff like
Ken Wood, ex-husband of one of the Grand Rapids killers
You might be a very atypical person who’d prefer death to severe disability, but if you are, could you pepper statements like that with disclaimers? That’s kind of a dangerous meme to reinforce.
If they want to live, I have no problem with it. I am not advocating killing them. I realize this is my personal preference. Feel better now?
I don’t know what kind of disclaimer I would even add. “Don’t become a serial killer because I said this?”
And I question whether it really is uncommon for people to choose death over severe disability. Why do so many people have living wills?
I don’t think this is dangerous. What’s dangerous is if the person doesn’t realize that not everyone shares their personal preference.
This idea that we need to censor ourselves when having honest discussions is a meme I would not like to see reinforced. I would propose to work against this meme by arguing emotionally and rationally against it rather than by trying to censor it.
Your values are leaking all over your statements of fact. It is not plausible to me that you have not seen the idea of preferring death to severe disability in lots of places at this point in your rational career. From this I conclude your describing those who feel that way as “very atypical” is not only false, but badly motivated as well.
On the (in my estimation) extremely small chance that you really don’t know what a common idea preferring death to severe disability is, google “living will,” “kervorkian” “suicide law oregon” to get a jump start into the large world of people who discuss a myriad of versions and implications of this pretty common meme.
Except when they do.
Tony Nicklinson’s case is by no means the only one I’ve heard of. How do you know that these people are “very atypical” of the severely disabled?
Of course, the idea does lend itself to rationalisations, and according to this blog post, Ken Wood, who you quoted, is doing exactly that: