Rational Suicide

First off before i start this i am NOT suicidal, please do not read this topic in this way.

So, i was playing with the idea in my mind and i couldn't work out what i think about it.

"Could it be possible for a completely healthy person to rationally decide that there are more cons than pros in being alive, and therefore decide to stop living"

Obviously when people are suicidal they often feel that suicide is an easy option etc. But could it be an actual rational option for someone who has studied life and being alive and decided that there's more bad points than good?

Sorry if this question is badly explained, it's hard to word appropriately

 

I don't think that no matter the bad or good things in life you should ever let yourself get to that point and no i don't think it is rational. Also You is a general term not actually at you.

 

Yeah I think this is probably the conclusion I'd come to, as even if it felt completely rational to the person, their view could be distorted by something that they don't even realize is there.

 

The only "rational" suicide decision I could think of would involve saving one or more lives, ie. jumping in front of a bullet or onto a grenade.

 

I hadn't thought of this! It's a good point, although I agree with you I suppose some would still say it wasn't rational though.

 

People who "rationally" choose to commit suicide usually do so because either it'll save someone else/prevent something else (saving a relative, partner, friend etc), because of their beliefs (suicide bombers etc) or because they have something they're running from or something they're paranoid about (killed someone they didn't mean to or so).

 

I know what your trying to say, and i 100% believe it's possible to make a rational decision in taking your own life.

 

Like the ones above, if someone decides to save someone that he loves etc, that we can categorized that as Rational Suicide.

 

It is greater to exist than to not exist.

Therefore it is irrational to purposefully end your existence.

 

Reading these posts I didn't realize this was even in the SFA section.

As stated by others, there are several factors you can choose to include to make your decision of suicide rational. Although others would most likely not see it the same way. I don't know if I could live with myself if I chose to kill someone for the heck of it, in my right senses. I believe it would haunt me, and though many people would call it pathetic to suicide and taking the easy way out (most situations), some things are just unbearable that they wouldn't be able to comprehend it unless they were in your shoes.

Rational or not though, it could make you look or be greedy. You would be letting a lot of people down, so it depends on how you want to weigh the pros on that one. Others may or may not see suicides as a rational decision if it was explained to them. This isn't really debatable as it comes down to one's opinion on whether it is or isn't a rational decision based on the explanations given. I could say taking an innocent life would give you a good enough reason to suicide if you couldn't bear with it, someone else could see nothing wrong with it as it's just 1 out of 7 billion.

 

It is your opinion that it is greater to exist than to not exist. There is no fact you can base that on.

Death is neither good nor bad it's nothing so surely if you could call it anyith it would be mutual. Where as if life was in your eyes something which was more bad than good then not existing would be greater than existing?

 

It is an a priori statement. It does not require factual evidence as it is true by definition. It is not my opinion.

 

Rational to the person committing suicide? Sure
Rational to the observers/outside? Probably not

For most of us who live in the 1st world countries or countries that are at peace, there is no reason for suicide. Suicide serves more as a method of natural selection to rid society of the weak. As messed up as it sounds, you need to detach emotions from the statement and think about it. If a person is nuts enough to attempt to kill him or herself then I would not want that person roaming around in society. The person would have nothing to lose so let your imagination go from there.

I don't have a drop of respect for people who commit suicide (in first world countries) because they took the easy way out. People have dealt with a lot worse then they have yet they did not kill themselves. One of the most selfish things you can do. Instead of dedicating your life to prevent others from doing it, you just let the cycle continue. :sick:

Atleast in other countries suicide is for greater reasons then being bullied or having your feelings hurt.


Images edited out.

 

What qualities would you deem to class a person as weak? Numerous inventors, scientists, musicians and authors have committed suicide, yet their lives and work have profoundly effected the way we live today.

 

That conclusion doesn't make sense, just because existing is "greater" than not does not mean there is no rationality in a suicide.

 

I do not deny that a person may find rationality in suicide. A person's ability to rationalise is limited by the information and time available to them. Their reasoning will seek to find the most satisfactory outcome and not necessarily the one which would be most optimal. Though they themselves may find rationality within their decision, this does not however make that decision rational.

 

This will sound cynical but no.
Ending ones existence nullifies any positives of killing oneself.

 

Suicide is such a selfish decision.. And yeah isn't every suicide rational then what else reason do people suicide other then weighing that their are more cons then pros in living

 

After reading through this the only time I could see it being semi rational is if someone's life was at stake. But even then I wouldn't think the person would want to it would just be something they had to do. Or their loved one/ friend pay the price. That type of situation.

 

This thread made me log on Sythe for the first time in a while, lol.

These threads are almost pointless, unless you have never been to that point in your life; staring off, knowing at that moment you can end it; you can't even begin to understand it.

To every user that has stated "Suicide is a selfish decision", but isn't it more selfish to make someone live a life they don't want to live?

If someone is committing suicide, it's their decision and while it may not seem rational to someone looking on it from an outside perspective, it may be the very right choice in their own mind.

Holy; wow, you are both arrogant and ignorant. Going off the idea that someone has it worse than me, I can't be upset is the same as going someone is happier than me, I can't be happy.

1st world problems are very different from 3rd world problems, and I won't argue that. I've been to a multitude of 3rd world countries, and I've experienced it. Quite frankly, you play the hand you are dealt.

There are a variety of circumstances that take place in first world countries that can make someone's life severely harder. There are a variety of disorders, things that cause a constant feelings of pain, worry, irritability, anger, suicidal thoughts, depression, everything. Pain you can't possibly imagine, and going off your post you have never have experienced.

You would not want them on the street with you? I am genuinely pissed off. Fuck You. Do you think everyone know's what everyone else is going through? Just because someone isn't happy with what they're experiencing doesn't make them a nice person, a normal person. People who'm you'd never expect to be could very well be suicidal. People don't generally tell people they're suicidal, definitely if they truly are. Not counting it's a point in life that you can push past, and if you can; it'll make you hell-of-a-lot stronger.

You're a fucking idiot. I mean genuinely, do you honestly think the only reason someone off's themselves is due to being bullied, or having their feelings hurt? Get out of your bedroom, go out into the world, and maybe, just maybe, open your damn eyes.

Lastly, there's a difference between sharing an opinion and being out-right disrespectful. Don't generalize; nor assume things about people, ever.