Foreigner
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2009
- Messages
- 8,308
People who claim they don't fear death are usually liars, in an apathetic state/dissociated from their emotions, or they haven't had a near death experience. They have never experienced the adrenaline rush, chaos, and commotion that usually surrounds death, especially overdose situations.
I don't agree that all those who commit suicide are hedonistic cowards. Some people actually want to live but they can't find a way out of their circumstances. I'm thinking now of all the people who commit suicide when they lose all their investments. They'd rather die than live a life of dire poverty. They are trying to avoid suffering. What about people who have long-term chronic illness? I'm one of those people. I can't count the number of times I've wanted to kill myself and came very close. Of course, everyone makes an exception to the cowardice rule when it's someone who nobly ends their life during terminal cancer or something more socially acceptable. How about this? Life generally sucks for most living things. It's a constant uphill battle. Suffering is never ending. Even those with wealth and comfort suffer. All you can do is fortify yourself as best you can against suffering, but it's often never enough. Even the spiritual angle is mostly not enough.
As for the OP's question... is it better to have an orgasmic life and then extinguish in a blaze of glory? Some would say yes. Maybe if you think the point of life is to feel as much pleasure as possible, then OD'ing on the most pleasurable drug would maybe be to your benefit. But I don't think the point of life is to chase pleasures OR pain. There's actually no point at all. You sound like you're more in the hedonist camp which is about maximizing pleasure... but there is some logical fallacy in your philosophical argument because death is not a pleasurable experience -- it's the absence of experience. So you're not really maximizing pleasure.
You maximize pleasure with edging. The edge of an orgasm, without orgasming. The edge of obliterating your consciousness, without actually destroying it for real. After all, pleasure and suffering share an axis. If you chase pleasure enough you will begin to suffer, mostly from diminishing returns. That's why true maximal pleasure would lead to death, because it would overwhelm your body's ability to live. But death is anhedonic so it's kind of pointless to go there if the point is pleasure.
I don't agree that all those who commit suicide are hedonistic cowards. Some people actually want to live but they can't find a way out of their circumstances. I'm thinking now of all the people who commit suicide when they lose all their investments. They'd rather die than live a life of dire poverty. They are trying to avoid suffering. What about people who have long-term chronic illness? I'm one of those people. I can't count the number of times I've wanted to kill myself and came very close. Of course, everyone makes an exception to the cowardice rule when it's someone who nobly ends their life during terminal cancer or something more socially acceptable. How about this? Life generally sucks for most living things. It's a constant uphill battle. Suffering is never ending. Even those with wealth and comfort suffer. All you can do is fortify yourself as best you can against suffering, but it's often never enough. Even the spiritual angle is mostly not enough.
As for the OP's question... is it better to have an orgasmic life and then extinguish in a blaze of glory? Some would say yes. Maybe if you think the point of life is to feel as much pleasure as possible, then OD'ing on the most pleasurable drug would maybe be to your benefit. But I don't think the point of life is to chase pleasures OR pain. There's actually no point at all. You sound like you're more in the hedonist camp which is about maximizing pleasure... but there is some logical fallacy in your philosophical argument because death is not a pleasurable experience -- it's the absence of experience. So you're not really maximizing pleasure.
You maximize pleasure with edging. The edge of an orgasm, without orgasming. The edge of obliterating your consciousness, without actually destroying it for real. After all, pleasure and suffering share an axis. If you chase pleasure enough you will begin to suffer, mostly from diminishing returns. That's why true maximal pleasure would lead to death, because it would overwhelm your body's ability to live. But death is anhedonic so it's kind of pointless to go there if the point is pleasure.
