He commented that he had willed his money to GiveWell 8 months ago. I don’t think Quirinius Quirrell’s hypothesis is particularly likely, but I also don’t think it’s likely that he was planning suicide for 8 months. If he wrote up a will last week, I would find that more convincing.
If he did not, at that time, want to commit suicide, it seems kind of odd to have the agency to make a will as a countermeasure in case you commit suicide in the future, but not have the agency to get help to prevent yourself from committing suicide. If he did want to commit suicide, it seems a bit odd to begin serious preparations more than 8 months prior to following through. Not saying it’s impossible, but it reduces the strength of the evidence.
The former is odd, but possible. I’d expect him to (find a clever roundabout way to) say “I’m not acutely suicidal right now, but I’m likely to become so. I’ll get my affairs in order. Please watch out for me.”, given that he talked about depression, but sometimes what you can and can’t do is weird.
The latter wouldn’t surprise me at all. “If you want to commit suicide, wait a year” is common advice, and if he was able not to immediately choose suicide, he sounded like the type to follow it—reflective, planning ahead, productive enough to make preparations in meantime.
He commented that he had willed his money to GiveWell 8 months ago. I don’t think Quirinius Quirrell’s hypothesis is particularly likely, but I also don’t think it’s likely that he was planning suicide for 8 months. If he wrote up a will last week, I would find that more convincing.
Why not? Do you expect he’d have said, if he was habitually suicidal?
He was arrested two years ago, so eight months is compatible with his legal troubles being a cause.
If he did not, at that time, want to commit suicide, it seems kind of odd to have the agency to make a will as a countermeasure in case you commit suicide in the future, but not have the agency to get help to prevent yourself from committing suicide. If he did want to commit suicide, it seems a bit odd to begin serious preparations more than 8 months prior to following through. Not saying it’s impossible, but it reduces the strength of the evidence.
Getting help does not necessarily prevent you from doing it eventually. A lot of people waffle for a long time.
The former is odd, but possible. I’d expect him to (find a clever roundabout way to) say “I’m not acutely suicidal right now, but I’m likely to become so. I’ll get my affairs in order. Please watch out for me.”, given that he talked about depression, but sometimes what you can and can’t do is weird.
The latter wouldn’t surprise me at all. “If you want to commit suicide, wait a year” is common advice, and if he was able not to immediately choose suicide, he sounded like the type to follow it—reflective, planning ahead, productive enough to make preparations in meantime.