4 ms·

There are a lot of people with their intellectual capacities intact that express a wish to die. They don't get to die either. For the most part society doesn't

by im3w1l 7y ago

There are a lot of people with their intellectual capacities intact that express a wish to die. They don't get to die either. For the most part society doesn't care about your wishes. I think what it really comes down to incentives. As a society we don't want bullying people into a suicide to be a viable strategy for getting the inheritance money early. Or for getting rid of people in general.

Gatsky 7y ago
There is that, but I still think even in a system where everyone acts in good faith, it is by no means trivial to implement euthanasia for 'diminished states of existence'.
bnjms 7y ago
Agreed on incentives. There is no resolvable solution for those incentives. Especially since suicide is easy to plan and not necessarily painful. For example iirc, Robin Williams did it.
TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
The inheritance money argument would be a good one if it weren't for the fact that care homes and hospitals get the inheritance money instead. There's still some sentience in middle stage dementia, but by the late stage there's literally no one home any more. It's really not obvious what - never mind who - is being kept alive. It's certainly not a simple problem. But there are existing systems for legal oversight of care, and of power of attorney over family wealth. It doesn't seem an impossible stretch to extend those to allow early termination in cases of extreme suffering or total and irreversible loss of cognitive function. We have a neighbour in the very late stages of terminal cancer. He's completely lucid. He wants to go, his family want him to go - this has dragged on for over a year now - and it's hard to see a good moral reason for extending everyone's suffering even further.
Chris2048 7y ago
Consider that Epstein was considered a suicide, and murdering people then staging it as a suicide is a common way of attempting to avoid blame. The possibility of choosing to legally die is another avenue your consent may be faked.

by im3w1l 7y ago

Gatsky 7y ago

There is that, but I still think even in a system where everyone acts in good faith, it is by no means trivial to implement euthanasia for 'diminished states of existence'.

bnjms 7y ago

Agreed on incentives. There is no resolvable solution for those incentives. Especially since suicide is easy to plan and not necessarily painful. For example iirc, Robin Williams did it.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago

The inheritance money argument would be a good one if it weren't for the fact that care homes and hospitals get the inheritance money instead. There's still some sentience in middle stage dementia, but by the late stage there's literally no one home any more. It's really not obvious what - never mind who - is being kept alive. It's certainly not a simple problem. But there are existing systems for legal oversight of care, and of power of attorney over family wealth. It doesn't seem an impossible stretch to extend those to allow early termination in cases of extreme suffering or total and irreversible loss of cognitive function. We have a neighbour in the very late stages of terminal cancer. He's completely lucid. He wants to go, his family want him to go - this has dragged on for over a year now - and it's hard to see a good moral reason for extending everyone's suffering even further.

Chris2048 7y ago

Consider that Epstein was considered a suicide, and murdering people then staging it as a suicide is a common way of attempting to avoid blame. The possibility of choosing to legally die is another avenue your consent may be faked.