3 ms·

Related and very interesting read: https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/07/17/who-by-very-slow-decay/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/07/17/who-by-very-slow-decay...

camkego 5y ago
Far, far, far down in the blog post at section III., the author says this: > I (and the doctors in my family whom I’ve asked) am pretty much like the doctors in the article. If I get a terminal disease, I want to wring what I can out of the few months of life I have left and totally avoid any surgery, chemotherapy, amputations, ventilators, and the like. It would be a clean death. It would be okay. > My big fear, though, is that I won’t get a terminal disease.
- nickthemagicman 5y ago
  Why would that be the big fear?
  - initplus 5y ago
    Answered in the subsequent paragraph after the end of the quotation...
  - renjimen 5y ago
    It's ambiguous but maybe they mean a chronic disease instead? i.e. constant suffering but no end date.
  - nemo44x 5y ago
    I think it means you get something like a degenerative COPD that just grinds you into the ground one suffering day after another while you’re in and out of hospitals, lose your mobility, and lose your basic organ functions; no chance to recover, just withering away neither quickly or slowly.
  - nicwilson 5y ago
    I'm guessing something like e.g. Alzheimers or some other quality of life degrading, but not lethal, disease that makes life (not as) worth living, at least past a certain point in the progression of the disease. But because its not lethal, it won't take you out of your misery.
  - acover 5y ago
    A quick death can be a mercy.
  - stubish 5y ago
    In most places assisted dying laws only apply to people suffering a terminal disease. If you are suffering something non-terminal, you lack choice and will continue suffering. The best hope some people have is that loved ones let them starve to death.
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    Assisted dying, where it is allowed, is universally conditioned on the subject having a diagnosed terminal condition. If your diagnosis isn't "death within 6 months", then you're stuck with tubes, wires and chemicals, or waiting for it to happen. So I also hope that if I get an incurable and unpleasant condition, it's a terminal one.

camkego 5y ago

Far, far, far down in the blog post at section III., the author says this: > I (and the doctors in my family whom I’ve asked) am pretty much like the doctors in the article. If I get a terminal disease, I want to wring what I can out of the few months of life I have left and totally avoid any surgery, chemotherapy, amputations, ventilators, and the like. It would be a clean death. It would be okay. > My big fear, though, is that I won’t get a terminal disease.

nickthemagicman 5y ago
Why would that be the big fear?
- initplus 5y ago
  Answered in the subsequent paragraph after the end of the quotation...
- renjimen 5y ago
  It's ambiguous but maybe they mean a chronic disease instead? i.e. constant suffering but no end date.
- nemo44x 5y ago
  I think it means you get something like a degenerative COPD that just grinds you into the ground one suffering day after another while you’re in and out of hospitals, lose your mobility, and lose your basic organ functions; no chance to recover, just withering away neither quickly or slowly.
- nicwilson 5y ago
  I'm guessing something like e.g. Alzheimers or some other quality of life degrading, but not lethal, disease that makes life (not as) worth living, at least past a certain point in the progression of the disease. But because its not lethal, it won't take you out of your misery.
- acover 5y ago
  A quick death can be a mercy.
- stubish 5y ago
  In most places assisted dying laws only apply to people suffering a terminal disease. If you are suffering something non-terminal, you lack choice and will continue suffering. The best hope some people have is that loved ones let them starve to death.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  Assisted dying, where it is allowed, is universally conditioned on the subject having a diagnosed terminal condition. If your diagnosis isn't "death within 6 months", then you're stuck with tubes, wires and chemicals, or waiting for it to happen. So I also hope that if I get an incurable and unpleasant condition, it's a terminal one.