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http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:39 pm
by xarcane
This is deep. This dude Mitchell Heisman committed suicide at the top of the steps at the Havard Chapel, and his suicide note was a 1905 page thesis/rational argument that goes deep into philosophy, sociology, history etcs. Interesting read if you're into that sort of thing, link's here:

http://www.suicidenote.info/

His main argument seems basically that the the current goal of society is ultimately to view the world completely objectively. Pure objectivity leeds to nihilism, which ultimately leads to our self-destruction and the rational technological creation of God. Being a nihilist himself he offed himself is supposed to emphasize that point.

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:43 pm
by lloydnoise
can't read now cos I'm at work but that looks insane. I've got very strong opinions on the problems with our society's perception of itslef but I wouldn't kill myself to drive my point home. that's fucking commitment :o

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:53 pm
by the wiggle baron
Argh, so much more interesting that I was expecting. This is going to soak up alot of time in the near future.
Ive only started on one part, but for a start I really like this guys writing style. He seems very unbiased, and everything is presented in a fairly clear manner. No re-reading the same page for 40 mins before coming to the conclusion that you need a better dictionary...

And the suicide, from what ive read so far, seems to be the unfortunate result of taking the idea of negating rationalism a bit too far. Was clearly a very thoughtful fellow. Always a tragedy.

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:18 pm
by ST100
damn.

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:13 pm
by hasezwei
fuuuuuuuuck... that part where he starts talking about building god and the singularity... me and a couple of friends were talking about *exactly that* about a year ago before we parted our ways. but we just thought it was a big mindfuck that we made up on psychedelics, nothing more. now someone else wrote a book starting with exactly that as his suicide note.
i'm not sure if i should continue reading, but i'm curious... how did he expand on that idea?
thanks for sharing this!

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:36 pm
by AllNightDayDream
Downloaded. Will take a gander tomorrow

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:11 pm
by fractal
great read so far, thanks for the linkage

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:18 pm
by ketamine
He killed himself for nothing... :(

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:19 pm
by fractal
you haven't finished reading...

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:20 pm
by qwaycee_
i'm gonna save this for the weekend. this is a lot of reading and i know i won't stop...

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:23 pm
by ketamine
fractal wrote:you haven't finished reading...
No, I know what his Reason was, I'm saying that reason was needless...

Its like, "I'm going to kill myself at work to prove this job pointless"

What have I proven? Nothing.

And if then it turns out that my task at that job WAS meaningful, and that I just hadn't stick around long enough to find out, then: I killed myself for nothing.

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:26 pm
by fractal
ketamine wrote:
fractal wrote:you haven't finished reading...
No, I know what his Reason was, I'm saying that reason was needless...

Its like, "I'm going to kill myself at work to prove this job pointless"

What have I proven? Nothing.

And if then it turns out that my task at that job WAS meaningful, and that I just hadn't stick around long enough to find out, then: I killed myself for nothing.
i still don't think you grasp it. what does reason and meaning have to do with a nihilist? -w-
there is no reason or purpose in his opinion

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:21 pm
by ketamine
fractal wrote:
ketamine wrote:
fractal wrote:you haven't finished reading...
No, I know what his Reason was, I'm saying that reason was needless...

Its like, "I'm going to kill myself at work to prove this job pointless"

What have I proven? Nothing.

And if then it turns out that my task at that job WAS meaningful, and that I just hadn't stick around long enough to find out, then: I killed myself for nothing.
i still don't think you grasp it. what does reason and meaning have to do with a nihilist? -w-
there is no reason or purpose in his opinion
True. Bottom line though: Wasteman.

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:25 pm
by 64hz
haha what a fuckin idiot. .

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:13 am
by noam
64hz wrote:haha what a fuckin idiot. .
:p:

:a:

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:16 am
by JemGrover
The guy was ill.. not an idiot

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:21 am
by noam
he was not a nihilist.

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 3:11 am
by mickey raus
ha, they called me "the nihilist" after just one month of philosophy classes in college, but i enjoyed it
the lack of purpose is just more freedom for me to stick around and have phun, while watching peeps getting sad or delusional about their life
so yeah, don't make hopes i leave soon, i'm the super-nihilist!
[whatever that shitty label means, i don't really care...]

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 3:13 am
by Pistonsbeneath
Image

Re: http://www.suicidenote.info/

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 7:29 am
by xarcane
noam wrote:he was not a nihilist.
No human being can really be a full nihilist. But he was as far as nihilism can go. To quote the very beginning of this thesis
The following is an experiment in nihilism. Already I have contradicted myself! How can one believe in disbelief?