9 year old suicide

Here are some links about the story:

Community shocked over 9-year-old's suicide at Dallas elementary school | khou.com | Houston News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | Home

Apparent suicide of 9-year-old boy in The Colony raises questions | Local News | News fr...

School shocked, grief-stricken by 9-year-old's apparent suicide | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News

I do not understand why people would be surprised that a nine year old might not feel that life is not worth living any more than someone of a different age. Killing yourself early avoids potentially many years of pain.

And pleasure, too.

Yes, of course. The question to be answered, if pleasure and pain are the measurements of a good life, is which will predominate? That will give the "rational" answer to the question of whether or not one should kill oneself.

Self-examination and experience. Those pre-historic tools that continue to bear tremendous fruit.

These will tell us whether we are more likely to have a painful than a pleasurable life?

Do you perhaps think that what happens to us may have something to do with it too?

Yep.



Question seems unclear.

Do you mean "Do you think that [our experience] will have something to do with [learning whether we are more or less likely to have a pleasurable life]?"

or

"Do you think that [our experience] will have something to do with [our self-examination and experience]?"

Or something else entirely?

I mean that whether good or bad things happen to us will largely determine the kind of life we are going to live. And what happens to us is largely not in our control. And no amount of analysis or self-examination (whatever those are) will matter.

Maybe you missed it.

I included experience in that list. Self-examination and experience. Experience happens to be those things that happen to us.

Let me try to explain this to you. If something bad happens to you, you have had a bad experience. If something good happens to you, you have had a good experience. Get it? If not, don't worry, I know this can be difficult. I'd suggest you meditate on the concept. In time, understanding will come. Good luck!

I mean that whether good or bad things happen to us will largely determine the kind of life we are going to live. And what happens to us is largely not in our control. And no amount of analysis or self-examination (whatever those are) will matter.

In that case, one might decide that it is better to not take a chance on the vicissitudes of life, and end things as soon as reasonably possible. Or one might prefer to take one's chances with life. If it is all unknown, then it would appear that neither decision is inherently more rational. In which case, people ought not judge it irrational to commit suicide, while claiming that continuing to live is the better choice.

Of course, it is not quite the same to say that something is out of one's control, and that it is unpredictable. One ought to go with the best prediction one can make. If there is no way to judge it at all, then neither decision could be more reasonable than the other.

That certainly explains it. (What?). How we discover whether life is worth living or not? I guess I really don't get it.

Before we go any further, have you grasped the concept of experience? I'd really hate to waste time with this issue if you have yet to understand the basic players.

You do now understand that experience is comprised of those things that happen to us? That if a bad thing happens to you, you have had a bad experience, ect?

Beats me, you were the one who had such trouble with the idea that people can determine if life is worth living through self-examination and experience.

Oh, I thought you had some reason for asking me that.

I still have no idea why you believe what you do. Maybe you don't have any reason, though.