Prof Sam Vaknin
@samvaknin·443K subscribers·2.3K videos
Suicide: Why Choose Life, Not Death!
Posted
July 14, 2022
Views
32,519
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1,907
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149
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July 14, 2022
32,519
1,907
149
6.32%
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Whenever someone tells me about their intention to end their life, I respond:
Staying alive is the only cogent argument for staying alive.
We stay alive simply because the alternative is NOT being and existence is always richer in potential than non-existence.
Life is full of pain and frustration. But pain and frustration are not CAUSES. They just ARE - the same way that we ARE.
If suicide appeals to you, I hope you reconsider your decision.
And to those who contemplate suicide while claiming to have faith in the afterlife (whatever that may be), I add:
You claim to have faith, but you sound like you have lost ALL faith.
People confuse purpose with meaning.
However devoid of goals it may be, your life is meaningful because the universe would not be the same without you.
When you choose to live rather than to die, you co-create the world. Your death renders it instantly other.
Had you not been born, reality for every atom and person and entity would have been radically different.
Purpose and action and accomplishments are the icing on the cake of your existence.
But your existence alone suffices to steer everyone and everything in another direction and towards an alternative destiny.
You are truly the co-author of the universe. What could be more significant than this?
On his deathbed, Voltaire was asked by a priest to renounce the Devil. “It is not the time to make new enemies!”- he famously responded. He remained authentic to his last breath.
Self-actualization is the sole engine of meaning in life: making a difference in an otherwise indifferent universe.
So, why do I rail against consumerism and sex positivity which are ostensibly about helping us to realize our potential?
Because both actually limit our promise and constrict our lives. Both these ideologies are death cults: they objectify people and humanize objects.
Consumerism and sex positivity also suppress our free will by presenting fake choices between rigidly dictated alternatives and by penalizing nonconformity.
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