Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
What was the question again?

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                               

Standard of Dying Index

Can you afford it ?
  (+18)(+18)
(+18)
  [vote for,
against]

A lot of comparisons are drawn between different Nation States on your planet concerning "Standard of Living".

How much does resource the typical human expend on food, fuel, travel, clothing, education, medical care ? How good is their "lifestyle" ?

We propose that instead you consider instituting a "Standard of Dying" index.

This would indicate at a glance, for any given region, a metric based on age at death, whether it was painful, whether it was preventable, how many descendants did you leave, did they inherit any financial resources from you, what happened to your remains (thrown in plague pit, interred in consecrated ground, left in a field for the crows to pick at).

This would give a much clearer and sharper perspective of overall quality of lifestyle, and the results might be surprising, although some aspects, depending largely on the individual's belief system, will be very difficult to quantify objectively.

8th of 7, Jun 24 2011

From Haiti to Hades in a dump truck. http://www.yourfune...-graves-600x337.jpg
A dump truck filling a hole with dead bodies. [rcarty, Jun 25 2011]

Here it comes again with another load of fresh bodies. http://3.bp.blogspo.../s1600-h/graves.jpg
Dead bodies in a hole in foreground, with a dump truck on the way with more dead bodies in the background. [rcarty, Jun 25 2011]

Green Boots Cave - Expensive, lots of effort, join a limited club - (graphic images of frostbite and corpses, you have been cautioned) http://godheadv.blo..._04_01_archive.html
216 people have died, and the grim reality of the horrific conditions of the Final Push is that 150 bodies have never been, and likely can never be, recovered [normzone, Jun 27 2011]

[link]






       With a bit of working up, this could be the Halfbakery's first academic publication, probably in some socio-fuzzy journal. [+]
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 24 2011
  

       your planet?   

       8th - you live on this orb as well, we know it - jobseekers allowance have your info on their database/
po, Jun 24 2011
  

       Ok, so the pathetic attempt to be "in" wid da "boyz" fell on stony ground. Should have used "yo", obviously. SP. fixed.   

       // jobseekers allowance have your info on their database //   

       We keep going for interviews, but there don't seem to be many career opportunites for Aggressive Hegemonising Swarm Collective Life Forms, apart from McDonalds, and they're not hiring at the moment.   

       Perhaps we should seek other worlds to conquer ....
8th of 7, Jun 24 2011
  

       This is very good. [+]
mouseposture, Jun 25 2011
  

       You'll only die once.
Sir_Misspeller, Jun 25 2011
  

       I like it, but could a civilized country lose points for having more people die of cancer (long and painful) when it is actually much better than a country where everybody dies fast and painlessly... from gunshots?
DIYMatt, Jun 25 2011
  

       //apart from McDonalds// Religion? Google? Microsoft? Coca Cola? USA?   

       I met a man yesterday who has Parkinson's disease, in the advanced stage where the medication has stopped helping and there are no longer any periods of remission. He said he has twice tried to commit suicide, but the paramedics intervened each time; he was clearly angered by that.   

       A friend of mine was peacefully dying in her home a few years ago. She had made it clear that she did not want any medical intervention, but a family member called the ambulance (against her wishes). She was taken to hospital, where she died a few days later, after being subjected to useless, wasteful, and unwanted medical procedures, including surgical removal of her pancreas.   

       There must be a happy medium between state-imposed denial of one's right to control one's own life, on the one hand, and the dump truck treatment, on the other.
spidermother, Jun 25 2011
  

       <pionts meaningfully at "the results might be surprising" part of idea>
8th of 7, Jun 25 2011
  

       <Also notes the "difficult to quantify objectively" part>
spidermother, Jun 25 2011
  

       [+]...so very true and disturbing in many ways.
xandram, Jun 25 2011
  

       clap clap clap +
nomocrow, Jun 26 2011
  

       [rcarty] What? I can't see any dead bodies. Looks like cordwood.
nomocrow, Jun 26 2011
  

       There, individual's quandrum to assimilate others; to acclimate, is heartfelt. Though life atop Everest be almighty, it does not last forever... especially for those in linckedpics.
Sir_Misspeller, Jun 27 2011
  

       On our planet we have a place called Oregon, where the right to doctor assisted suicide is protected by law. In order to use this provision the person must be within 6 months of cashing out, must be of sound mind (aren't we all?) and must pull the lever him or herself. Sounds scary, but less so than facing the fate of spidermother's friend.
sqeaketh the wheel, Jun 30 2011
  

       Im putting in my will that I want to be buried on a planet orbiting Bernard's star, and I will haunt everyone until it happens.
DIYMatt, Jun 30 2011
  

       We will be delighted to do that for you right now, assuming (a) you mean Barnard's Star, and more significantly (b), you aren't bothered about not actually being dead when this happens.
8th of 7, Jun 30 2011
  

       St. Bernard's star. Isn't that in Canis Minor?   

       Whereas Barnard's star is in the Seven Sisters, along with Smith's star, Radcliffe's star, etc.
mouseposture, Jun 30 2011
  

       [8th] - a couple of additional items: the deviations from the mean, and the impact of one person's death upon the standard of living of others.
lurch, Jun 30 2011
  

       In an effort to make comparisons more simple, people would continously be caught trying to decide things such as "Is dying from gunshot better than dying from cancer?" And would that be as a soldier or gang victim? I understand that the index is subjective to begin with, but this is a lot less clear-cut than checking off the "has bathroom with running water" box.
AutoMcDonough, Jul 01 2011
  

       // Is dying from gunshot better than dying from cancer //   

       It's age-related, but on the whole, yes.   

       For the average 70 year old, the choice between a swift "9mm round to the base of the skull" and a prolonged "dying a bit at a time, in intermittent pain, while experiencing a long series of medical procedures that do nothing much more beyond prolonging the agony, and losing just about every shred of dignity including control of bodily functions" is probably not a difficult choice.   

       Your society will be considered to have made a substantial advance in ethics when you start to accord to elderly members of your species the dignity and compassion you show to your domestic pets.
8th of 7, Jul 03 2011
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle