Hi all. First post here, I've done some light reading of the FAQs and rules and whatnot and am fairly confident this is okay to post, and I would appreciate any feedback if it isn't.
There's this idea that, our future selves are not the same people as our current selves. In a way, we have no idea if our future selves would consent to the decision of taking our life. Though, if we're successful, that person doesn't exist, so it's not relevant - except, that's my entire point.
I'm on the fence on whether or not I want to take my life, though have been taking steps to do so. This philosophical argument is one that's convincing me that, perhaps my future self would be grateful that I did not make the decision to take my life - participating on this forum in-and-of-itself is a way for me to (intentionally) wear down the barriers that are keeping me from taking my life, and I am currently juggling how much engagement I want to have here. Regardless, my own personal circumstances aren't what I'm here to discuss.
To me, it feels like kicking the can down the road. Measuring whether or not I'm psychologically capable of making this decision for myself seems to be very difficult, and I don't know where the line is, so I'm curious on your thoughts. Apologies if this has been talked about a lot.
Edit: To clarify,
I am wondering people's thoughts on what it means to be "psychologically capable of" making that decision for themselves.
A question I've posed in a philosophy discussion group for example was, how many days in a row do you have to be confident in this decision in order to make it for yourself? 30? 90? 180? Who makes that decision? What is that decision based off of? Where is the line, philosophically speaking, where society should accept somebody's decision to commit suicide rather than do everything they can to prevent it (and if you're in America, stick you with the medical bill
)
There's this idea that, our future selves are not the same people as our current selves. In a way, we have no idea if our future selves would consent to the decision of taking our life. Though, if we're successful, that person doesn't exist, so it's not relevant - except, that's my entire point.
I'm on the fence on whether or not I want to take my life, though have been taking steps to do so. This philosophical argument is one that's convincing me that, perhaps my future self would be grateful that I did not make the decision to take my life - participating on this forum in-and-of-itself is a way for me to (intentionally) wear down the barriers that are keeping me from taking my life, and I am currently juggling how much engagement I want to have here. Regardless, my own personal circumstances aren't what I'm here to discuss.
To me, it feels like kicking the can down the road. Measuring whether or not I'm psychologically capable of making this decision for myself seems to be very difficult, and I don't know where the line is, so I'm curious on your thoughts. Apologies if this has been talked about a lot.
Edit: To clarify,
I am wondering people's thoughts on what it means to be "psychologically capable of" making that decision for themselves.
A question I've posed in a philosophy discussion group for example was, how many days in a row do you have to be confident in this decision in order to make it for yourself? 30? 90? 180? Who makes that decision? What is that decision based off of? Where is the line, philosophically speaking, where society should accept somebody's decision to commit suicide rather than do everything they can to prevent it (and if you're in America, stick you with the medical bill
)
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