Is passive euthanasia (letting someone’s body fail them) preferable to active euthanasia (assisted suicide)?
i don’t know if there’s a way to answer this without spurring an intense debate because this issue is incredibly divisive. i’m a strong proponent of assisted suicide, even though most of the people i know aren’t. i think that everyone should have the option for it. i think that waiting for someone’s body to just expire by itself is unnecessary and borderline cruel.
i don’t know if i’m the best person to answer this question, given that i am not dying at the present moment.
What defines consciousness? Do think other animals can be considered conscious creatures?
not sure how to answer this. was trying to figure it out but i realized that i was just paraphrasing the entirety of david foster wallace’s ‘consider the lobster’ essay. i think that animals are conscious but not in the way we view consciousness.
i have 2 dogs. they have a good memory. they remember things and people, but other than that, they just live in the moment. they don’t realize that they get food at 6pm, or that i come home at a certain time. they don’t question why i’m around all day on certain days but gone other days. they just react to whatever happens in that instant.
i imagine that some people might think that the way my dogs process information is unfavorable and terrifying, but that’s just in comparison to our consciousness. my dogs don’t seem to mind too much.
Do you think the amount of absurdity in the world has tangibly increased in your lifetime? If so, can you share some examples.
last year, the amount of times someone said something genuinely racist and offensive to me was zero. this year, it increased exponentially, to the point where i’m wondering if people around me were always this hateful and i’m just now noticing it. i don’t know if that’s my fault or someone else’s.
What is the function of art in society, historically and in the present day?How has this institution changed with society?
art functions as a way to describe oneself. it’s just for self-expression.
i don’t know if art necessarily changes with society. if anything, i think that art is one of the only constant things in this world. art, while entirely subjective, is simply an outlet for human emotion. and as society changes, human emotion changes. for the worse, probably. but art is still there to express it. even if it is shit.
regardless, i don’t know if art is the truest form of self-expression, but i think it’s the only option we really have right now, so i guess i’ll take it.
How do you manage ennui?
i don’t.
