bart@alice.UucP (Bart N. Locanthi) (02/23/86)
an interesting question, that of discovering a truly painless method for suicide. but it raises more questions, the most obvious being what metric to judge pain by. it seems to me that the most useful one would be some kind of pain-time product - ripping a band-aid (tm) off quickly is instantaneously more painful then pulling it off slowly, yet the pain fades quickly enough that most (brave) folk with hair elect for the quick rip method. then of course there is the matter of anticipation. opening a blood vessel can't be very painful but you have to watch all your blood flow out and go through the various stages of wooziness. is that painful? jumping off a building isn't at all painful (unless you develop nausea on the way down) and the fact that impact must hurt like hell should be mitigated by the shortness of the event. and depending on your makeup, the fall could be exhilarating (how many people do you suppose thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime (sic) thrill only to realize on the way down they could have done it with a parachute?). is that exhilaration a fair balance for the ensuing pain? maybe someone should interview failed suicides to get a reading on just how much pain they endured. i'm sure the information would be useful, even though 1) most living suicides haven't tried several methods and therefore would not be able to compare results, 2) "living suicide" being an oxymoron, one can't really find out about the pain level of dying without actually dying, 3) a failed suicide may be too embarrassed to report honestly, and 4) one who is unbalanced enough to attempt suicide may not be able to give a rational analysis of the experience.
gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith) (02/24/86)
In article <5025@alice.uUCp> bart@alice.UucP (Bart N. Locanthi) writes: > >an interesting question, that of discovering a truly painless method >for suicide. but it raises more questions, the most obvious being This discussion is kind of sickening, as well as dangerous. The method *I* would recommend would be to pick up the phone and call the suicide prevention hotline. ucbvax!brahms!gsmith Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720 ucbvax!weyl!gsmith "Are you by any chance from South Africa?" - RR
sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) (02/26/86)
Buy a pistol. Load it. Put the barrel under your chin, close to your
neck, pointing upward and slightly backward. Pull the trigger. By the
time the nerve impulses reach your brain you won't have one. Now wasn't
that painless?
(The positioning of the gun with this method almost insures that you won't
screw up and cripple yourself)
Sean
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Casey UUCP: sean@ukma.uucp CSNET: sean@uky.csnet
University of Kentucky ARPA: ukma!sean@anl-mcs.arpa
Lexington, Kentucky BITNET: sean@ukma.bitnet
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." - BBbill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan) (02/27/86)
In article <5025@alice.uUCp> bart@alice.UucP (Bart N. Locanthi) writes: >[...] opening a blood >vessel can't be very painful but you have to watch all your blood >flow out and go through the various stages of wooziness. [...] Out of (morbid?) curiosity, does anyone know how long this takes? The only mention I've heard of this was in a work of fiction, and the description there implied _hours_. Surely it doesn't take that long! Plenty of time for rescue.. hmmm.. --
tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (03/01/86)
The only way to go ( so to speak ... ) in my opinion would be to set of a nuclear bomb very near myself. The only problem I can see with this is that it might be over so quickly, that I wouldn't notice the fact that I am dead! :-) -- Tim Smith sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim
hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (03/05/86)
In article <2760@ukma.UUCP> sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) writes: > >Buy a pistol. Load it. Put the barrel under your chin, close to your >neck, pointing upward and slightly backward. Pull the trigger. By the >time the nerve impulses reach your brain you won't have one. Now wasn't >that painless? > >(The positioning of the gun with this method almost insures that you won't >screw up and cripple yourself) When I worked for the L.A.S.P.C, we were told of the case of a man who tried this with a shot-gun. He managed to blow his lower jaw off and now eats through a tube. There is no guarantee that _any_ given method will kill you. Think about it. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp(+)TTI 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Geniuses are people so lazy they Santa Monica, CA 90405 do everything right the first time. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe
hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (03/05/86)
In article <630@sigma.UUCP> bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan) writes: >In article <5025@alice.uUCp> bart@alice.UucP (Bart N. Locanthi) writes: >>[...] opening a blood >>vessel can't be very painful but you have to watch all your blood >>flow out and go through the various stages of wooziness. [...] > >Out of (morbid?) curiosity, does anyone know how long this takes? The only >mention I've heard of this was in a work of fiction, and the description >there implied _hours_. Surely it doesn't take that long! Plenty of time >for rescue.. hmmm.. This used to be the favored method of the ancient Greeks. They would slash their wrists, then bind them up and release the bindings periodically. That way they could bleed to death little by little while saying good bye to their friends. The people I've spoken to who've tried and survived this method tell me it's very painful. If you really want it to work slash the veins lengthwise. To get to an artery you'll have to go very deep, probably cutting tendons and such along the way. It still takes a long time. Most SPCs consider it a low-risk method because of the likelihood of rescue. You sure things are this bad? -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp(+)TTI 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Geniuses are people so lazy they Santa Monica, CA 90405 do everything right the first time. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (03/06/86)
If I ever decide to kill myself (which I don't see as an option
at this point--I don't think it solves anything, and I have about
500 books I haven't read yet :-), I have a method picked out.
From the reports I've read, the effects of cobra venom are quite
pleasant. Similar to cocaine. This is from articles by people
who were bitten and survived. It can be very fast--a few minutes
to unconsciousness and 1/2 hour or so to death.
Of course, you have to find a cobra. And you have to get bitten
well. (Cobras have been known to botch the job--they don't have
real fangs, they sort of grab and gnaw. It takes time for them
to get enough poison in. They often miss. Rattlesnakes
are more efficient, but not poisonous enough for the suicide squad.)
And if it doesn't kill you, you will probably wind up with nasty
gangrene--as it destroys the blood vessels. And you have a cobra
running around loose to confront the EMTs or the next owner of
your house.
But, hell, nothing's perfect. Think I'll live and enjoy. Hope
everyone out there does, too.
--
Sue Brezden
ihnp4!drutx!slb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nirvana? That's a place where the powers that be and
their friends hang out.
--Zonker Harris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~wilson_3@h-sc1.UUCP (bradford wilson) (03/06/86)
> In article <2760@ukma.UUCP> sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) writes: > >(The positioning of the gun with this method almost insures that you won't > >screw up and cripple yourself) > > There is no guarantee that _any_ given method will kill you. Think about > it. > > -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ > The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) > Citicorp(+)TTI > 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Geniuses are people so lazy they > Santa Monica, CA 90405 do everything right the first time. > (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 > {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe This reminds me of a story I read a few years back concerning a bank robber, a cop, and a .44 magnum. Evidently, the police officer appeared in the middle of the heist, and confronted the thief. Things got nasty so the cop shot the thief in the head with his .44, and the thief went down like a sack of potatoes. What the cop didn't know was that the bullet, in one of those "one-in-a-million" type situations, had bounced off the robber's skull, only grazing him (!!!!) When the thief, who was pretty tough, staggered to his feet, the policeman screamed and ran. The thief escaped, with a huge headache :-) This just goes to show the uncertainty involved in dealing with killing. DIRE wolf aka h-sc1!wilson_3@harvard
mdr@bentley.UUCP (M. Rossner) (03/07/86)
The Bobby Caldwell (on St. Elsewhere) method of pushing currare through an I.V. seems pretty painless and sure-fire to me.
jss@ihu1e.UUCP (Smith) (03/07/86)
> In article <5025@alice.uUCp> bart@alice.UucP (Bart N. Locanthi) writes: > >[...] opening a blood > >vessel can't be very painful but you have to watch all your blood > >flow out and go through the various stages of wooziness. [...] Wrong very painful. You have to cut deep to get a good vein. > Out of (morbid?) curiosity, does anyone know how long this takes? The only > mention I've heard of this was in a work of fiction, and the description > there implied _hours_. Surely it doesn't take that long! Plenty of time > for rescue.. hmmm.. > -- It depends on how much pain in cutting your self you can put up with and how much blood you have to loose. If you do a resemble job at both wrists figure about 60 minutes for every 50 pounds of weight. (a very good job on wrists and ankles (ie. almost hacking them off) < 15 minutes.) -- J. S. Smith AT&T IW There are lots of opinions around this place, but these are mine and no one else's. ihnp4!ihu1e!jss
norman@alice.UucP () (03/08/86)
> It depends on how much pain in cutting your self you can put up with and > how much blood you have to loose. If you do a resemble job at both wrists > figure about 60 minutes for every 50 pounds of weight. (a very good job > on wrists and ankles (ie. almost hacking them off) < 15 minutes.) Interesting. Does this mean that the various well-advertised diets and weight-reduction courses are really courses in quick suicide?
bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan) (03/11/86)
In article <5090@alice.uUCp> norman@alice.UucP writes: >>[...] >>figure about 60 minutes for every 50 pounds of weight. (a very good job >>on wrists and ankles (ie. almost hacking them off) < 15 minutes.) > >Interesting. Does this mean that the various well-advertised diets and >weight-reduction courses are really courses in quick suicide? Not if you include the time you spent on the diet!! :-) --
weemba@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Matthew P. Wiener) (03/15/86)
In article <800@ism780c.UUCP> tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) writes: >The only way to go ( so to speak ... ) in my opinion would be to set >of a nuclear bomb very near myself. The only problem I can see with >this is that it might be over so quickly, that I wouldn't notice the >fact that I am dead! :-) Do you read Shopenhauer? That is the reason, after all his depressing philosophy and depressing view of life, he recommends against suicide. And he was serious. ucbvax!brahms!weemba Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720