tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4302058077294515606.post747037387339677450..comments2023-05-21T08:15:38.932-04:00Comments on Benjamin Peck's Writings, 2008-2011: BEATING THE WALL STREET CRISISBenjamin Peckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11060411573921973698noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4302058077294515606.post-16289783367820524662008-09-25T08:06:00.000-04:002008-09-25T08:06:00.000-04:00I forgot to mention, only after reading your comme...I forgot to mention, only after reading your comment did I realize you wrote that! I honestly thought it was a serious news article.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4302058077294515606.post-69862794167698153422008-09-25T08:05:00.000-04:002008-09-25T08:05:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4302058077294515606.post-47323559843762601152008-09-25T08:03:00.000-04:002008-09-25T08:03:00.000-04:00Hi!Thanks for the reply, wonderful to read. Epict...Hi!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the reply, wonderful to read. <BR/><BR/>Epictetus said of suicide "Death's door is always open for our escape from what we judge to be intolerable situations in life. Therefore, death is in fact a refuge, and so nothing difficult ever traps us in life."<BR/><BR/>Many read that as an endorsement of suicide, but the Stoic would only in the most extreme circumstances need it, as their perspective on life would carry them through life's tribulations. It is spoken in his other statement "wherever I go, it will be well with me." A man with that view has no need of suicide.<BR/><BR/>I have noticed, in my thinking, the issue with the word "success" is that it's so general. It's a catch-all phrase that can weigh heavily on the mind if it isn't properly dissected. "I'm not successful" has a larger downing affect than "I'm lacking a source of income." Of course, in our society, those 2 statements are equal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4302058077294515606.post-75663628237703628022008-09-24T13:41:00.000-04:002008-09-24T13:41:00.000-04:00Nietzsche was a chronic depressive; he did not wri...Nietzsche was a chronic depressive; he did not write about suicide "per se" but he did write about nothingness as a solution to intractable difficulties. Freud escaped reality through intoxication. I can't pinpoint any explicit text about suicide, but his writings on neurosis and anxiety likely shed some light on what he thought about it.<BR/><BR/>George Carlin's second-to-last album from 2005 dealt with suicide at length. I took inspiration from that. In my piece, I wanted to expose a few problems with current rhetoric about suicide.<BR/><BR/>First, there is a popular misconception that suicide is "per se" an irrational decision. I disagree with this. Rational thinking involves a conscious use of reason to weigh envisioned benefits versus envisioned costs. When the costs of living outweigh life's possible benefits, it is not irrational to want to die. For example, a person may face nothing in life except anguish, physical torment, illness, terrible humiliation or terror. Death in those circumstances may actually be a preferable alternative to those endless bodily or mental tortures.<BR/><BR/>Second, I wanted to show how commercial pressure translates into emotional pressure. People in both the West and Asia commit suicide when they feel they have "failed." Even if their health is fine and they face no physical pain from continued life, their sense of personal accomplishment leads them to choose death. What does this say about the influence of social expectations? In our world, hard-driving people--the "success- chasers"--want commercial victories. They want to make and amass money. When they succeed, they feel personal worth. When they fail, they feel that their entire raison d'etre has vanished. The feelings are so intense that they truly believe that death is better than living. That is why I included the stark line in the piece: "Admit it. You failed." Being branded as a "loser" is tantamount to a death sentence. After all, "winners" succeed; "losers" do not. And if success is life's sole aim, then losing is dying.<BR/><BR/>I suppose my ultimate point is that we should not invest so much emotional capital in the culture of "success." People would not have such intense emotional reactions to failure if they did not subscribe to the value system underlying "success." The word "success," of course, implies judgment. Obviously a person can be "successful" from a subjective standpoint, but more often they worry about whether some external power will label them "successes" or "failures." Submitting to that external judgment is dangerous.Benjamin Peckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11060411573921973698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4302058077294515606.post-25995894720278639022008-09-24T09:53:00.000-04:002008-09-24T09:53:00.000-04:00Wow, this really is encouraging! What did some of...Wow, this really is encouraging! What did some of your favorite authors think about suicide? <BR/><BR/>MattAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com