Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

bluewin.ch

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 655 posts

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#181

Post by hyperbovine »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #142
mcdonje wrote: post #51

The sad demise of Robin Williams made me a believer of assisted suicide. The option to go out with dignity should be available to everyone. That said, there is a problem in at least some places where assisted suicide is available where it keeps getting recommended to disabled people who don't want to die. That needs to be solved. Seems like an easy solve. Just don't do it. There is a cost reduction incentive, though,…

I think that Hunter Thompson basically did this. Kinda "on-brand" for him, really. I had a friend that decided to stop treatment (dialysis), when he realized that he'd never get off it (he couldn't get a transplant). He was in his late 60s. It was both a sad, and joyous experience. He took about a month to pass (renal failure). He was Catholic, and wouldn't do assisted suicide. During that month, a bunch of us would…

You omitted the _most_ on-brand part of this story, which is the part where (per his last wishes) Johnny Depp spent $3m on a party that involved firing Thompson's ashes out of a 150-foot tower in western Colorado.

https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/post/hunter-s-thompson-s...

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#182

Post by LogicFailsMe »

RickJWagner wrote: post #117
ignoramous wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jason Zweig, Kahneman's friend, wrote about this and many other thoughts Kahneman would have gone through in making the decision. As Barbara Tversky, who is an emerita professor of psychology at Stanford University, wrote in an online essay shortly after [Kahneman's] death, their last days in Paris had been magical... One afternoon, according to her online essay, she asked what [Kahneman] would like to do. "I want to…

I have to wonder if they could have had one more magical day. Or maybe two. Maybe in a different city, or with different friends. If he did “learn something new”, could he have incrementally improved upon it, using his brilliant mind? Could he have made one more wise observation? It seems he likely left something on the table.

You know how the story is going to end if you stick around for it. I would make the same choice he made. And I would do it before I was ruled mentally incompetent to do so. My wife and I have already had conversations on doing exactly this having watched multiple family members succumb to dementia. It's horrific and the state salivates at institutionalizing you for the final lap.

No cure for getting old and no cure for dementia on the useful horizon. Having made it to 90 intact, he had knocked living out of the park already. I completely understand his thinking here and support it. He likely could have gone a little longer, but he also might have had a stroke or some other nonfatal cataclysmic event that took away his options.

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#183

Post by hypeatei »

ants_everywhere wrote: post #93
hypeatei wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a direct financial incentive for families to push people into this What financial incentives are there in killing someone?

We don't talk about it a lot as a society, but some people just like killing people. The ordinary outlet for them is the military. Sometimes they become serial killers. A euthanasia industry would attract these people similarly to how police and security work attracts authoritarians and how clergy jobs attract pedophiles. That's not to say that most people in the industry would enjoy killing people, but it would be a…

> This is the same reason many people are opposed to the death penalty.

Death penalty is the government deciding to take your life based on what they believe you did. I agree, mistakes there are bad. Assisted suicide consists of the person dying giving their consent to take their life. Quite different.

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#184

Post by a022311 »

Not going to express an opinion, I'll just leave this except from the Hippocratic Oath [1], which reflects society's primary beliefs on this topic approximately up until the 19th century:

> οὐ δώσω δὲ οὐδὲ φάρμακον οὐδενὶ αἰτηθεὶς θανάσιμον, οὐδὲ ὑφηγήσομαι συμβουλίην τοιήνδε

In English:

> Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#185

Post by NaomiLehman »

yawpitch wrote: post #69
anilgulecha wrote: post #20

I'm part of the Jain community in Bangalore, and the version of this in society exists, called Sallekhna [1], a tradition that's developed over millennia, and this is venerated and celebrated. The philosophical underpinning is giving up of materialness. The practicality of the 5 instances that I witnessed over the past year - typical terminal individuals choose this. They pass away surrounded by loved ones (they typi…

Ever since I learned of Jainism I’ve wished I’d learned of it earlier.

Thank you I just learned about it. Seems compatible with atheism.

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#186

Post by atonse »

0xEF wrote: post #35
pflenker wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could express your wishes about how you would like to be treated in advance, while you are still clear in the head. That’s already possible for other situations, like when you are braindead and entirely dependent on machines to keep you alive, with no chance of recovery.

Having a living will is a great idea in general. My dad got a brain tumor and had no documentation on what he wanted do with his estate, in the event he became vegetative, etc. By the time he realized he needed one, it was too late for "sound mind judgement" and my mom had to go through this ridiculous legal process to ensure she held on to his assets and whatnot while she was directly caring for a dying man. Save yo…

You can create one with LegalZoom for very little money.

It includes a one hour zoom session with an actual attorney to explain things.

They make it so easy.

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#187

Post by bityard »

dbZJtFuAXUrVLmY wrote: post #145
lordnacho wrote: post #3

I had an old teacher who died almost a year ago. Great guy, very sociable, knew everyone in the little town he lived in. Kept in touch with a lot of students. Good neighbour, friendly guy who'd talk to everyone. He got Alzheimers. He started forgetting stuff, and it frustrated him. He got caught driving dangerously, and cursed the doctor who took away his license. He argued with me about the state of some chicken he…

This comment really bothers me. I am not put off by the idea that the memory of a person is worth protecting, what I am put off by is the suggestion that death is a good option here, or that death is better than having lived those 3 years of life. The idea that when someone loses the capacity to retain their reputation and dignity it would be better for them and others that they were dead and that they have nothing g…

> I am really pro assisted suicide as a way of shortening suffering

You don't consider years of mental trauma on the individual and years burden and stress on loved ones to be suffering?

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#188

Post by lazyfanatic42 »

Took care of someone with Alzheimers for six years until they passed away. No one should have to exist like that, for that long. A biological shell simply of automatic inputs and outputs.

Robin Williams had to hang himself.

There should be easy medical options in the US.

Re: Daniel Kahneman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland

#190

Post by femiagbabiaka »

bityard wrote: post #176
femiagbabiaka wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A society that sours on you due to an illness that’s totally out of your control seems a little inconsiderate to put it mildly.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that it would be society's call to make.

Well sure — I’m not talking about euthanasia, I’m talking about compassion towards the aging. An 80 year old who has dementia needs community more than ever. If you’ve been there for your community and their opinion of your turns when you age, what is the purpose of community?
Post reply on HN