razoloto999Apr 20, 2024

Is it cruel to extinguish a person who self-immolates? If they live they will have tremendous pain and suffering.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/18106814

Is it cruel to extinguish a person who self-immolates? If they live they will have tremendous pain and suffering. - sh.itjust.works

I read that the police were extinguishing the guy who set himself on fire yesterday only two minutes after it began. Obviously, the guy did not want to live. Putting out the fire so quickly does not ease his suffering and would only increase it if he were to live. As long as nothing else is at risk of catching fire perhaps it would be best to stay away. What do you think?

Show threadunderwire212Apr 20, 2024
In the moment, you’re not 100% certain the guy wanted to be on fire. The only thing you can do in this case at least is attempt to extinguish.
Show threadAggressivelyPassiveApr 20, 2024
I mean, if someone pours gasoline over his head and lights himself on fire, you can somewhat reasonably infer an intentionality.
Show threadDevi
But we can say that with any suicide, if a guy stands on a bridge holding a rock tied to his leg then we will still try to save them because we understand they're going through something.
Apr 20, 2024 at 3:56pmWeb
Show threadAggressivelyPassiveApr 20, 2024

That’s not the question here. It’s about intention, not your reaction.

Anyway, the equivalent here would be rather jumping after the guy to rescue him 2min after he jumped. You may endanger yourself and you might rescue a half-braindead shell of a person.

Don’t kid yourself, besides talking him out of jumping, nobody would do anything.

Show threadDeviApr 20, 2024

There's thousands of cases of people putting themselves in danger to try to save suicidal people, including jumping into deep bodies of water.

However, my point was on intention, someone committing suicide isn't right in the head so to say "well they did it on purpose so we shouldn't help" is silly.

Show threadAggressivelyPassiveApr 20, 2024

Again, that’s not my point.

But again anyway, it’s also silly to assume they’re not right in the head. You don’t know their situation. And it’s even sillier to assume that I implied helping them would be wrong. Helping them while endangering yourself and making the situation for the other guy even worse is just stupid.

Show threadDeviApr 20, 2024

But again anyway, it’s also silly to assume they’re not right in the head.

Sane people don't try to kill themselves

Show threadABCDEApr 20, 2024
You can be sane and depressed.
Show threadDeviApr 20, 2024
Depression is by definition a mental illness.
Show threadABCDEApr 20, 2024
Does it make you not sane?
Show threadAudalinApr 20, 2024
The exact definition of sanity is a cultural choice.
Show threadSTOMPYIApr 20, 2024
Not true
Show threadRhaedasApr 20, 2024
Also many suicide failures have reportedly had second thought even right after they attempted, such as on the way off the bridge. All we can do is help them if possible, so that if there was regret they might be able to recover their life. The self immolation is a tough example because it's true that survival means a long road of pain, but I don't think we should try and draw lines to determine who should and shouldn't be saved (again, if possible). I'd also rather be hated by them for trying to help than to think that I could have done something but chose an easier route of inaction by mental justification.
Show threadNeoNachtwaechterApr 20, 2024

It’s about intention, not your reaction.

Think again: Your own action is all that you can decide upon.

Later you can try to judge and to grumble and to smartass, but then you cannot change things anymore with that.

Show threadTodayApr 20, 2024
It’s not intention. It’s the expected quality of life afterwards. I work with kids who had no desire to die when they fell into a pool, choked on something, etc. Sometimes…