Comment by kranke155 3 days ago
I read that in some societies, if you ended up not being able to feed yourself, they would bring you to your favorite tree and leave you there.
If you ended back in camp you’d be welcomed. If you didn’t, that was your end. I found that remarkably comforting and peaceful.
I have this childhood memory of my neighbour's dog, that grew old and one day decided to go out in the woods and die peacefully. They found it a few days later.
I wish to remain so lucid when the time comes, that I can go sit under a tree and let myself go like that old dog. Perhaps I should leave a note.
I always think of that scene from Donnie Darko - where he says when his dog got sick, she went to hide under the porch. “To die?” His therapist prompts him. “To be alone” he corrects her pointedly. [0]
That’s kind of what I want when I die too - I don’t think I want to be around other people when it happens. I want to have my final moments to face death on my own, without feeling like I have to perform for other people.
… that said, give me another 60 years to chew on it and maybe I’ll feel different.
Wow I’m the total opposite. I’m very annoyed to be around others most of the time, but upon dying I can’t imagine doing it alone or without the help of loved ones.
A lot of motivation to be risk averse with my physical body in this life comes from a desire to make it to old age. Furthermore, I instantly understood why having children was good when I realized that they are your insurance that you’ll (usually) have someone to help comfort you on your deathbed who is themselves still lucid.
> I’m very annoyed to be around others most of the time, but upon dying I can’t imagine doing it alone or without the help of loved ones.
I'm the same but I'm trying to accept that while we are born among family, dying is a solitary journey.
(There is a saying along these lines, but search engines are utterly useless at surfacing it)
Honestly that strikes me as a pretty fucked up and self-serving reason to have children.
You should have kids because you want to create new life, and support them as they become the best humans that they can be - not because you’re scared of dying alone.
Your worldview is even worse. At least I'm honest in my egoism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Never_to_Have_Been
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benatar%27s_asymmetry_argument
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_Human_Extinction_Mov...
Or they'll treat you with a daily oil bath and feed you tender coconut water ... until few days later your kidney's blow out.
I think people tend to underestimate the risks in allowing suicide —- here’s a blurb from the linked article:
However, social acceptance may lead to more egregious abuses: the issue gained a higher profile in early 2010, when an 80-year-old man escaped after discovering his intended fate and heard his family members discussing how they were going to "share" his lands, and took refuge in a relative's home.
> people tend to underestimate the risks in allowing suicide
People obsess over this risk. It—and religious opposition—are the reason it’s only an option for those who can travel to and hospice in Switzerland.
> social acceptance may lead to more egregious abuses
Do we have any evidence societies that have tolerated suicide had higher rates of murder? Switzerland doesn’t strike me as a hotbed of senior murder, for example.
Yes, and that is one of the reasons our culture has made practices like these taboo- it can give the veneer of respectability to despicable acts
People also underestimate the risks in allowing sexual intercourse, driving a car, playing football and doing ice baths ...
Death from hunger (esp. when you're frightened and don't understand what's happening) is neither comfortable nor comforting
Fascinating that you think someone with dementia would be suffering more from hunger then from their condition sapping away at them.
Unfortunately someone with advanced dementia does not know if she has eaten or not. Most of the time there will be no eating, unless someone else puts food in your mouth.
If you don’t make it back you would die of starvation and lack of water. These are some of the worst ways of dying. What do you find comforting and peaceful about it? The person has been abandoned by their community and could suffer terribly for days.