I thought that kick was a little (more than a little?) too hard. I saw a vid of a firefighter in China who pulled off the same thing with a much gentler move with his feet. It was more of a shove, he seemed to cushion it a lot more effectively.
I bet Foxconn is kicking themselves. Stringing up all those nets is expensive.
Not to steal the firefighter’s glory, but they probably could have saved a couple of bucks by asking Air Conditioner Man to drop what he was doing for a couple of minutes.
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Link? Curious now. That looks like Gravity is doing a lot of the work, but seeing a lighter touch in action would make more sense.
Yes, stopping people from committing suicide is such a violation of their personal agency.
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Yes. It is.
It may be an act that you feel is justified by the circumstances, but it is still a profoundly intrusive violation of agency.
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On the basic idea of suicide, I agree. But a suicide attempt in public might impact other people. Quite literally, in this case. Plus, it can not be ruled out that the choice of venue indicates that the person wants to be noticed rather than to be dead. And while this may or may not be actually the case, rescue workers are probably obliged to err on that side? Legally, if not morally?
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Yup.
When my grandfather killed himself, I wasn’t upset by the act: he had his reasons (a succession of strokes were progressively destroying his brain, and he was at high risk of needing limbs amputated in the near future).
But I was very pissed off that he did it in a way that meant my grandmother was the one who found him (and had to leave him in place for several hours while the police forensics crew did their thing).
She deserved better than that.
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I’m not sure how it works elsewhere, but in the UK trying to kill yourself will almost certainly result in one being ‘sectioned’ (ie detained under section 2 or 3 of the mental health act), which basically means you are not capable of looking after yourself so you lose any rights you may previously have had, and so it would not be considered an “intrusive violation”.
And to the suicidal woman on the balcony, I leave my … BOOT TO THE HEAD!
I thought it might be the Toronto story. Apparently not suicidal, just an urban explorer who looked down and froze.
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I realize the impact that such acts have on onlookers, but the mental state of someone who is depressed isn’t necessarily conducive to thinking about such things. Stating that it is vicious and cruel pretty much ignores that fact.
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Of course, given how many suicide attempts are undertaken on, essentially, a whim and immediately regretted, and how many of the people committing suicide are clinically depressed or otherwise mentally ill, I think there’s a pretty good argument for them being fooled out of their agency by their circumstances.
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Well, of course there are excuses in mental state et cetera, but I think it is objectively cruel for what it does to other people. But can you imagine people talking publicly, in person, about “proper” forms of suicide, that don’t harm others? That’s what you get from a taboo, thanks again Christianity. Also, why is the previous comment flagged. Some people seem to feel they can’t be bothered to hear certain opinions, but others can be bothered to see a body smashing into concrete next to them? What is up with that?
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It’s not about people talking about proper forms of suicide. It’s that people who come to a point where they decide taking a nose dive off a tall building is their best choice, likely aren’t in a space to really be thinking about impact on others.
I suppose on one level it’s good to hear that that is a foreign concept to you, in that you’re probably not suicidal. Expecting suicidal people to be going through a perfectly rational process misses the whole point of what depression is.
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Effectively the same in Canada - remanded under the Mental Health Act.
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Yeah, well, then others have to do that.
Hey I can be rational and depressive.
Exactly. There is definitely some semblance of reason among people who sought out Dr. Kevorkian, or ones who at least think to put down some heavy plastic.
Coming from a bloodline with three suicides - mother and two maternal uncles - has made me think hard on the subject. If I ever made this decision, I’d at least try to make sure there was as little mess and bother as possible, for family’s sake. I figure the best place would be in the wild. Let the animals benefit from a fresh meal, perhaps?
I’m not sure cases with Kevorkian were necessarily depression. In either case, yes I suppose some depressed people plan ahead. Casting aspersions on those who don’t though, is callus at best. The initial comment I was reacting to was: fuck them for inflicting this upon the rest of society which I can hardly abide by.
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