Why don't we just let people do what they want in life?

[Baalzamon]

richardhutnik said:

Baalzamon said:

richardhutnik said:

Human bodies are entities that do not want to die.  The entire entity is structured so that it wants to live and will do everything in its power to not die.  Whenever someone gets the idea to die, it is because they are stuck in a situation of perceived hopelessness that is a misfunction of what it means to be human.  Want to know why you intervene with people who want to kill themselves?  The reason why is that it isn't the way it is meant to be.  And in a society that doesn't value life that sufficiently that it will, it then will show less regard for life in a lot of other areas.

I understand there is places of hopelessness, and it seems like a mercy killing would be appropriate.  There is also the case of the separate situation where you keep someone in a vegetative state, or trying to save someone who would die shortly of natural causes.  There is also easing pain of someone who is dying.

Anyhow, if you feel that people should have a right to off themselves, I am curious why you think that this is something someone would pick as their option if they had hope.  Maybe the focus should be to give someone hope, rather than ending it all. 

As for the guy with no arms and legs.  He still has a mind, and can think and talk.  Humans can work to give him tools to enable him to function.  In an information age, the mind is a LOT more important than arms and legs.

Once again, the word selfishness appears in my mind when I read this.  Who are we to say the proper way that we are meant to operate?  That is simply the way that many people have perceived human life, not necessarily the way it is supposed to be.

Also, you speak of somebody with no arms and legs still having a mind.  What about, hmmm, somebody who can't even think any more.  They have to be fed, because they do not know when they are hungry.  Other than that, essentially nothing means anything to them because their mind is, simply put, nonexistent.  No offense, but what fucking hope exists for people like this that we are keeping alive!!!  It pisses me off so bad that we think we are the ones that choose that somebody like this should continue living.

I'm sorry if I'm getting mad, I just get completely pissed when people say humans are meant to be this, when that is, as mentioned before, a simple perception from one human of the whole human race.  You have no clue if what we perceive ourselves to be is what was initially meant to occur.  Hell, you don't even know if we were meant to be here for any reason, yet you think you can just say that we are, and that justifies being able to control other people's lives.

According to the reasoning here, individuals with no arms and legs (might as well say functioning) have no hope and no future.  When they get depressed and want to kill themselves, might as well do it.  By this reason, why not off Dr. Stephen Hawkings if he didn't want to live?  Just a reminder, he is a picture of him:

Have you ever had to deal with severe depression?  I have had to deal with it, and I know what it is like to want to deal with these thoughts.  I also know that wanting to off oneself is not the answer.  The problem with the wanting to die argument as a justifcation for supporting suicide is that the decision to want to do this comes from someone who is normally depressed, or scared to not be fully functional.

I'm not saying they have no hope or future.  There's always the potential for hope and future (there's also potential for everything to get considerably worse, but you seem to fail to mention this).  I'm saying, if somebody wants to die, who are WE, as innocent bystanders, to tell that person, "Nope, we aren't going to let you die because of our selfish assumptions on the way human life is meant to be.  Instead, we're going to make all decisions for you, and we'll decide what is best for you, when it is just our opinion that we feel it is best."