I can’t recall the name of it, but I think there was documentary about people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. The filmmakers interviewed a bunch of people who had survived their attempts, and most or all of them regretted jumping as soon as they were airborne. I’m in favor of a right to suicide (not to be confused with thinking it is a good idea in the vast majority of cases) but I think anyone who is really set on going through with it should be encouraged to do so by means of a slow-acting poison that has an antidote, or some analogous method, just in case they discover an unexpected revealed preference for living after beginning to kill themselves.
I think you’re right, but there’s a possible selection effect. The ones who survived but didn’t regret jumping could have successfully committed suicide later. Then they wouldn’t be around for any interviews. Some quick searching doesn’t give me any useful stats about the likelihood of survivors re-attempting.
“The Bridge”. There was one person who survived and said he changed his mind once he was airborne. My recollection of the movie is that most of the people who jumped had been wanting to die for most of their lives. Even their family members seemed at peace with it for that reason.
The problem is, they didn’t learn anything after they jumped. They hadn’t changed their priors. They hadn’t changed their desires.
The were being irrational before they jumped, irrational after they jumped, or both. With out knowing which is true, we can’t say when their decision should count.
The problem is, they didn’t learn anything after they jumped.
I assume you mean ‘they didn’t learn anything by jumping’, which doesn’t seem obviously true to me: They could have made predictions in the form of “when I jump, I will feel X” or “when I’m no longer in a position to plausibly feel responsible for taking care of X, I will feel Y” or “when I am certain I will die, I will feel X”, and had those falsified.
I think an important question is why did they change they minds? Do they feel better about life? Are they happier somehow? Or did coming so close to death simply boost their survival instinct?
But I haven’t seen this documentary so maybe that question was covered.
I can’t recall the name of it, but I think there was documentary about people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. The filmmakers interviewed a bunch of people who had survived their attempts, and most or all of them regretted jumping as soon as they were airborne. I’m in favor of a right to suicide (not to be confused with thinking it is a good idea in the vast majority of cases) but I think anyone who is really set on going through with it should be encouraged to do so by means of a slow-acting poison that has an antidote, or some analogous method, just in case they discover an unexpected revealed preference for living after beginning to kill themselves.
I think you’re right, but there’s a possible selection effect. The ones who survived but didn’t regret jumping could have successfully committed suicide later. Then they wouldn’t be around for any interviews. Some quick searching doesn’t give me any useful stats about the likelihood of survivors re-attempting.
“The Bridge”. There was one person who survived and said he changed his mind once he was airborne. My recollection of the movie is that most of the people who jumped had been wanting to die for most of their lives. Even their family members seemed at peace with it for that reason.
The problem is, they didn’t learn anything after they jumped. They hadn’t changed their priors. They hadn’t changed their desires.
The were being irrational before they jumped, irrational after they jumped, or both. With out knowing which is true, we can’t say when their decision should count.
I assume you mean ‘they didn’t learn anything by jumping’, which doesn’t seem obviously true to me: They could have made predictions in the form of “when I jump, I will feel X” or “when I’m no longer in a position to plausibly feel responsible for taking care of X, I will feel Y” or “when I am certain I will die, I will feel X”, and had those falsified.
I guess “didn’t learn anything relevant after they jumped” would be most accurate.
Unless they actually killed themselves for a few seconds of relief.
I think an important question is why did they change they minds? Do they feel better about life? Are they happier somehow? Or did coming so close to death simply boost their survival instinct? But I haven’t seen this documentary so maybe that question was covered.
Perhaps some kind of simulated near-death experience?