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Why is this here? A person with a mental illness created a shrine to that mental illness. Even if we meant for it to be public, his healthier agencies probably

Why is this here? A person with a mental illness created a shrine to that mental illness. Even if we meant for it to be public, his healthier agencies probably wouldn't have. It's disrespectful, even cruel to upvote this, gawk at it, muse about it. It's heartbreaking and it isn't news. Edit: thankfully this thread is closed. The level of ignorance in this thread already, and the indifference to the consequences of glorifying suicide, is really troubling. I hope no one in a vulnerable position reads this and puts stock in his, or our, nonsense.

lolsal 13y ago
What about this is mental illness?
- ForrestN 13y ago
  Everything, from the premise to the details. The grandiosity and self-obsession and narcissism, the delusions about his own motives (which were clearly emotional and painful rather than pseudo-philosophical). Even if you take his argument at face value he is killing himself in response to an ailment that he does not have. His using controversially justified ideas of suicide as a cover for self rage. Edit: I was trying to dissuade people from promoting suicide as an impressively rational response to reaching an age many people consider to be the best years of life. He killed himself, lied to himself about why, and then wrote and painstakingly edited (20 times at least, he says) an massive, elaborate shrine to himself and his own sad death. Yeah, I guess those are both equally narcissistic.
  - Zikes 13y ago
    Writing his own biography is no more or less narcissistic than your thinking anyone on the internet cares about your opinion on his writing his biography. Lots of people have personal web sites of their life's accomplishments, they call them "portfolios". Lots of people have an online account of their day-to-day activities, they call them "blogs", "tweets", and "status updates". What Martin Manley has done here is no more or less "self-obsessed" than what you and I do every single day, he only presents it in a manner slightly askew to that with which we are accustomed.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
  I don't want to say it is but does it strike you as normal? If you take the whole thing at face value you might say it's rational and logical but without knowing the guy and knowing what he's not said, or what he's distorted (or not), it's impossible to say whether what's true and whether it stacks up. People, even those with mental illness, are often pretty good at creating a logically consistent view of things and building a supporting rationale. But you can take another view - he's smart, at least personable enough to have attracted two wives, has friends and interests, a reasonable level of success and so on and yet has decided while he's still clearly mentally and physically capable, to end his life. And his justification is because he can, because it's a bit neat and so he can leave this website as some sort of legacy. I'm not saying that's a sign of mental illness, but it doesn't sit completely right with me either. Also without being heartless, curious to know if there's any verification of his death (or existence) anywhere. I'm not saying it's a hoax but if someone told me in a couple of days it was I wouldn't be stunned.
hrkristian 13y ago
I don't find it heartbreaking, but it is somewhat fascinating. While it's understandable to call it a mental illness at a young age, Martin is 60 and well past his prime and is right in what he's saying. What value does he really have if he feels "done"? Who are we to say he made a wrong decision? I might feel the same way at 60 or 70, not that I'll be a making a website about it, but then I'm not writing books either.
- Xcelerate 13y ago
  > Martin is 60 and well past his prime Which isn't even half the age of the oldest person to ever live. I think quality of life at 60 varies a lot person to person. Of course your physical capabilities will have peaked, but that doesn't at all imply your ability to enjoy life has. Heck, I was reading a 100-year old recently completed a marathon, which is more than most my age (23) are capable of doing. I'm sure there are plenty of people who had a miserable youth but had very enjoyable years toward the end of their life.
  - ddeck 13y ago
    I agree with all of your points, but despite writing that he has no physical health issues, it seems he was beginning to experience a pretty significant mental decline: >I was sick of having to dig through the trash to find an envelope that was sent to me so I could remember my own address - especially since I lived in the same place for the last nine years!
- ForrestN 13y ago
  He's right because he 'feels "done?"' He feels done because he is paranoid and lonely and feels bad about himself, because he seems to have profound psychological pain. Glorifying his manic, grandiose justifications is a terrible idea, even if horror is sometimes fascinating. He felt done because he was using cliches about aging to rage at himself. There is no "prime" after which the value of your life declines. If your conception of yourself is that you only deserve to live insofar as you can perform as a young person would, you aren't admirably rational, you're just self-loathing.

lolsal 13y ago

What about this is mental illness?

ForrestN 13y ago
Everything, from the premise to the details. The grandiosity and self-obsession and narcissism, the delusions about his own motives (which were clearly emotional and painful rather than pseudo-philosophical). Even if you take his argument at face value he is killing himself in response to an ailment that he does not have. His using controversially justified ideas of suicide as a cover for self rage. Edit: I was trying to dissuade people from promoting suicide as an impressively rational response to reaching an age many people consider to be the best years of life. He killed himself, lied to himself about why, and then wrote and painstakingly edited (20 times at least, he says) an massive, elaborate shrine to himself and his own sad death. Yeah, I guess those are both equally narcissistic.
- Zikes 13y ago
  Writing his own biography is no more or less narcissistic than your thinking anyone on the internet cares about your opinion on his writing his biography. Lots of people have personal web sites of their life's accomplishments, they call them "portfolios". Lots of people have an online account of their day-to-day activities, they call them "blogs", "tweets", and "status updates". What Martin Manley has done here is no more or less "self-obsessed" than what you and I do every single day, he only presents it in a manner slightly askew to that with which we are accustomed.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
I don't want to say it is but does it strike you as normal? If you take the whole thing at face value you might say it's rational and logical but without knowing the guy and knowing what he's not said, or what he's distorted (or not), it's impossible to say whether what's true and whether it stacks up. People, even those with mental illness, are often pretty good at creating a logically consistent view of things and building a supporting rationale. But you can take another view - he's smart, at least personable enough to have attracted two wives, has friends and interests, a reasonable level of success and so on and yet has decided while he's still clearly mentally and physically capable, to end his life. And his justification is because he can, because it's a bit neat and so he can leave this website as some sort of legacy. I'm not saying that's a sign of mental illness, but it doesn't sit completely right with me either. Also without being heartless, curious to know if there's any verification of his death (or existence) anywhere. I'm not saying it's a hoax but if someone told me in a couple of days it was I wouldn't be stunned.

hrkristian 13y ago

I don't find it heartbreaking, but it is somewhat fascinating. While it's understandable to call it a mental illness at a young age, Martin is 60 and well past his prime and is right in what he's saying. What value does he really have if he feels "done"? Who are we to say he made a wrong decision? I might feel the same way at 60 or 70, not that I'll be a making a website about it, but then I'm not writing books either.

Xcelerate 13y ago
> Martin is 60 and well past his prime Which isn't even half the age of the oldest person to ever live. I think quality of life at 60 varies a lot person to person. Of course your physical capabilities will have peaked, but that doesn't at all imply your ability to enjoy life has. Heck, I was reading a 100-year old recently completed a marathon, which is more than most my age (23) are capable of doing. I'm sure there are plenty of people who had a miserable youth but had very enjoyable years toward the end of their life.
- ddeck 13y ago
  I agree with all of your points, but despite writing that he has no physical health issues, it seems he was beginning to experience a pretty significant mental decline: >I was sick of having to dig through the trash to find an envelope that was sent to me so I could remember my own address - especially since I lived in the same place for the last nine years!
ForrestN 13y ago
He's right because he 'feels "done?"' He feels done because he is paranoid and lonely and feels bad about himself, because he seems to have profound psychological pain. Glorifying his manic, grandiose justifications is a terrible idea, even if horror is sometimes fascinating. He felt done because he was using cliches about aging to rage at himself. There is no "prime" after which the value of your life declines. If your conception of yourself is that you only deserve to live insofar as you can perform as a young person would, you aren't admirably rational, you're just self-loathing.