There have been people who wanted to die for one reason or another, or claimed to at the time with apparent sincerity, and yet went on to achieve useful or at least interesting things. The same cannot be said of those who actually did die.
Actual death constitutes a more lasting type of harm than anything I’ve heard described as torture.
There’s a nihilism lurking here which seems at odds with your unconditional affirmation of life as better than death. You doubt that anything anyone has ever done was “useful”? How do you define useful?
Admittedly, my personal definition isn’t particularly rigorous. An invention or achievement is useful if it makes other people more able to accomplish their existing goals, or maybe if it gives them something to do when they’d otherwise be bored. It’s interesting (but not necessarily useful) if it makes people happy, is regarded as having artistic value, etc.
Relevant examples: Emperor Norton’s peaceful dispersal of a race riot was useful. His proposal to construct a suspension bridge across San Francisco Bay would have been useful, had it been carried out. Sylvia Plath’s work is less obviously useful, but definitely interesting.
There have been people who wanted to die for one reason or another, or claimed to at the time with apparent sincerity, and yet went on to achieve useful or at least interesting things. The same cannot be said of those who actually did die.
Actual death constitutes a more lasting type of harm than anything I’ve heard described as torture.
There’s a nihilism lurking here which seems at odds with your unconditional affirmation of life as better than death. You doubt that anything anyone has ever done was “useful”? How do you define useful?
Admittedly, my personal definition isn’t particularly rigorous. An invention or achievement is useful if it makes other people more able to accomplish their existing goals, or maybe if it gives them something to do when they’d otherwise be bored. It’s interesting (but not necessarily useful) if it makes people happy, is regarded as having artistic value, etc.
Relevant examples: Emperor Norton’s peaceful dispersal of a race riot was useful. His proposal to construct a suspension bridge across San Francisco Bay would have been useful, had it been carried out. Sylvia Plath’s work is less obviously useful, but definitely interesting.