In all of your examples, you are depicting suicide as a short-sighted or cowardly act. An alternative explanation is that suicide is often committed in the pur

In all of your examples, you are depicting suicide as a short-sighted or cowardly act. An alternative explanation is that suicide is often committed in the pursuit of pain relief. It may be seeking relief from a terrible situation, a chronic illness, cultural damnation, or any other source of suffering. If your example of a warrior committing suicide was meant to refer to seppuku then the warrior would not kill themselves "because he can't face the shame". I suggest you learn more about the ritual here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku I don't think that it is right for one person to judge the level of suffering another is willing to endure.