Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide • Hacker News Board

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#71

Post by 2oi03i9fhujcnd » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:03 PM UTC

maxklein wrote: post #59

I've been pushing this idea: "A half-way house for suicidal people" Basically, if you're intending to commit suicide, you simply register for the project, and you get an all-expenses paid trip to Iraq, Afghanistan or Congo or some other really dangerous place. Spend two to three months helping people out, then feel free to commit suicide after that. No counseling, no attempt to talk you out of it, just a chance to be…

Oh wow that sounds great. Need a first customer? Can you now explain to me how that helps me deal with the guilt of my friends dying there?

Thanks.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#72

Post by steveklabnik » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:15 PM UTC

anon_for_this_1 wrote: post #19

tumult wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not brave enough to stand up for censorship with your own account? I voted you down. I don't think your comment has any meaningful place in this thread. It should go without saying that you shouldn't use someone's death to soapbox about censorship or any other unrelated topic.

Like my other account is any less anonymous? (didn't realize I was signed in with this account). Journalistic convention is more related to the topic?? We've just found out about someone that suffered through a hell-filled life because of some sicko's fantasy. I'd hope we would try and figure out a way to spare others the same aweful fate.

> because of some sicko's fantasy.

No, he suffered through a hell-filled life because of some sicko's _actions_.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#73

Post by 2oi03i9fhujcnd » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:22 PM UTC

2oi03i9fhujcnd wrote: post #71

maxklein wrote: post #59

I've been pushing this idea: "A half-way house for suicidal people" Basically, if you're intending to commit suicide, you simply register for the project, and you get an all-expenses paid trip to Iraq, Afghanistan or Congo or some other really dangerous place. Spend two to three months helping people out, then feel free to commit suicide after that. No counseling, no attempt to talk you out of it, just a chance to be…

Oh wow that sounds great. Need a first customer? Can you now explain to me how that helps me deal with the guilt of my friends dying there? Thanks.

Down vote all you want, but it goes to show how we treat people with mental illness. Hey, someone has it worse than you, so suck it up.

Well let's disprove this path mathematically. YC would like that. I will prove by contradiction.

1. maxklein's assertion is that someone has it worse than you so you shouldn't kill yourself.

2. That means the person with the worst life in the world CAN kill himself.

3. Following that, the new worst life person can kill himself.

4. Then a new person. This can continue until one person is left on the earth. Does he kill himself?

There are different ways life can be bad. Living in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Congo is perhaps one way.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#74

Post by nhangen » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:38 PM UTC

I wonder why he didn't name the person? I don't know why, but it bothers me...almost as if he never found the strength to confront it, and he died never being able to do so.

I feel bad for the guy. I'm certainly not one of those self-righteous "suicide is selfish" types, but it does bother me that the victims always seem to lose in these cases. Such a loss.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#75

Post by lookACamel » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:40 PM UTC

maxklein wrote: post #59

I've been pushing this idea: "A half-way house for suicidal people" Basically, if you're intending to commit suicide, you simply register for the project, and you get an all-expenses paid trip to Iraq, Afghanistan or Congo or some other really dangerous place. Spend two to three months helping people out, then feel free to commit suicide after that. No counseling, no attempt to talk you out of it, just a chance to be…

Nice idea but don't you think others would abuse the system?

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#76

Post by skore » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:42 PM UTC

2oi03i9fhujcnd wrote: post #73

2oi03i9fhujcnd wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow that sounds great. Need a first customer? Can you now explain to me how that helps me deal with the guilt of my friends dying there? Thanks.

Down vote all you want, but it goes to show how we treat people with mental illness. Hey, someone has it worse than you, so suck it up. Well let's disprove this path mathematically. YC would like that. I will prove by contradiction. 1. maxklein's assertion is that someone has it worse than you so you shouldn't kill yourself. 2. That means the person with the worst life in the world CAN kill himself. 3. Following that…

No, that is not at all what he said. Actually, nobody said that.

The assertion is that when you consider suicide, you have your reasons and those reasons are a product of your environment. A chance to see yourself in a completely new environment, for instance in a desperate area of the world where human help - any help - is needed can give you a whole new experience and give you the nudge you need to re-evaluate yourself.

There is no kill-yourself-if math here. It's about giving people time off from their (perceived) issues to think.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#77

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:42 PM UTC

2oi03i9fhujcnd wrote: post #73

2oi03i9fhujcnd wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow that sounds great. Need a first customer? Can you now explain to me how that helps me deal with the guilt of my friends dying there? Thanks.

Down vote all you want, but it goes to show how we treat people with mental illness. Hey, someone has it worse than you, so suck it up. Well let's disprove this path mathematically. YC would like that. I will prove by contradiction. 1. maxklein's assertion is that someone has it worse than you so you shouldn't kill yourself. 2. That means the person with the worst life in the world CAN kill himself. 3. Following that…

[deleted]

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#78

Post by maxklein » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 6:44 PM UTC

lookACamel wrote: post #75

maxklein wrote: post #59

I've been pushing this idea: "A half-way house for suicidal people" Basically, if you're intending to commit suicide, you simply register for the project, and you get an all-expenses paid trip to Iraq, Afghanistan or Congo or some other really dangerous place. Spend two to three months helping people out, then feel free to commit suicide after that. No counseling, no attempt to talk you out of it, just a chance to be…

Nice idea but don't you think others would abuse the system?

That's why it's to Iraq. Not many westerners will go to Iraq unless they are suicidal.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#79

Post by cookiecaper » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 7:29 PM UTC

javert wrote: post #53

cookiecaper wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These religions are often much more different than their common manifestations, but their peddlers simplify and adulterate the teachings to make them more palatable. It involves serious work to become either a real Christian or a real Muslim, and people prefer "drive-through religion", as it were. I suggest you explore religion, especially religion that exists outside of the spotlight, more deeply to gain an appropri…

faith in tandem with reason That's a contradiction. faith.. is necessary in the acquisition of all meaningful knowledge. I strongly disagree. Believe me, I've looked into it.

It's not a contradiction, you don't understand. Faith is the serious belief that something can happen or is real. When a scientist embarks upon a hypothesis, he does so because he has faith that something valuable may come from experimenting on that hypothesis, which is a hope for value not yet seen. Faith is not just a belief or hope, but it is a set of works accomplished in the attitude of that hope, so the scientist, by faith, continues his experiments on a hypothesis.

The same process occurs in the spiritual and religious realm with regard to faith. Religious people hear that certain information and/or manifestations are available to them, and they have faith sufficient to follow the path outlined. As they do so, they find their initial faith validated, and then they continue to have faith on the next point outlined in the scriptures, and find that faith validated, and so on.

Faith is not knowledge; faith is a stopgap on the way to knowledge, and it's a principle necessary for healthy or reasonable conduct in all forms, which is part of why religion requires such an emphasis of faith. If a man obtains all knowledge, there is no more need for faith, because he knows everything of himself and has no need to believe something without a formal proof, as he has already received a formal proof of every true thing, which can only happen as that man has sufficient faith in true things to experiment and learn of their truth with help from God. He has no faith because he no more has a mere hope in things not seen; he now sees all things.

Re: Princeton Grad Student And 'Brilliant' Programmer, Dies In Apparent Suicide

#80

Post by anon_for_this_1 » Sat, Jan 08, 2011, 7:35 PM UTC

steveklabnik wrote: post #72

anon_for_this_1 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like my other account is any less anonymous? (didn't realize I was signed in with this account). Journalistic convention is more related to the topic?? We've just found out about someone that suffered through a hell-filled life because of some sicko's fantasy. I'd hope we would try and figure out a way to spare others the same aweful fate.

> because of some sicko's fantasy. No, he suffered through a hell-filled life because of some sicko's _actions_.

OK, agreed. And did that guy just get up one day and decide to do this out of the blue? No way -- he fantasized about it first. Thoughts lead to actions -- it's always worked that way. Granted, not ALL thoughts lead to ALL actions, but no action ever happened before the thought. Encouraging or feeding a _destructive_ fantasy doesn't have any positive outcomes (neutral at best).