System Shock 2 Review by Gggmanlives

[6742f79e29e75Marvin]

still, being miserable does not give you a free ticket to make life miserable for others. whatever your deal is, don't screw up other people's life/day/whatever. doing so will make you a douchebag no matter what your deal is, and more douchebags is not what this world needs.

as for why I do what I do, I believe that if one has an ability, he also should utilize it in a best, most efficient way possible. my ability seems to be helping out people with their broken stuff, bringing joy and happiness.

oh the irony.

You are applying rational thinking to irrational people.

Edit: Damnit, I acknowledged myself.

[6742f79e2a020voodoo47]

yeah, I tend to do that. also, you can unacknowledge your post by hitting the same button again.

[6742f79e2a357Kolya]

You are applying rational thinking to irrational people.

That sounds like an euphemism for "idiots", making it a bit too easy to judge them. But really very normal people may consider suicide at some point, placing them in an extraordinary, emotionally distressing situation, that shouldn't be ignored.

Edit: Ah what a delightful discussion on an autumn afternoon.

[6742f79e2a6a1RocketMan]

What makes a suicidal person irrational?  Not leading with this question, just curious.

[6742f79e2aab7BenNM]

*sproing* (awake again)

Ah, interesting discussion - halves of brains/minds, dissonance, emotional/passionate states, etc.  Just 'fyi', I'm back in my home town (population now doubled after 20-some years) ... and now it's officially a city. [eye_roll]  Same number of roads, about twice as many traffic signals, and doh-doh-head accidents (causing sirens) every several minutes while the daydwellers are awake and driving around.

Anyway, after 18 years (about 9 in Pennsylvania; 9 at 'our' New Mexico micro-ranch, now sold; then 3 months in Denver area Colorado), I left the woman who kept me from blowing my brains out with a shotgun after serving 5 years in the us navy - which was interesting but ended badly.  Civilian life after that was also interesting, as in the Chinese curse - may you live in interesting times. (shortly after the cold war collapsed)  I thought I was doing everything right, but was getting punished for it.  Why stay, right?  In my diminished state, I just couldn't figure out where to leave the organic mess.  About 5000 usa military veterans take their own lives each year, counting only the ones they find.  Eh, a dark subject ... and there are far more interesting things in/around this world.

As my brother (born 7 weeks early about 4 years after I was) is fond of saying, it's something of a miracle when people like us make it into our 40s.  He also jokes that we're not in our 20s anymore - thankfully, and not brimming over with testosterone.  I no longer hang out with the very angry people who would like to see about 90% of the usa population stop breathing and using up valuable resources.  Let's not spoil the playground for the other/coming children, right...

So, I've met some new friends, reconnected with highschool and navy buddies, and finally gotten a room mate and decent apartment.  I'm somewhat hopeful about human civilization, such as it is now, what with the technologies available and growing number of 'makers'.  I'm also thinking about scraping enough money together to buy the all-night franchise diner (old highschool hangout) that has been run into the ground and is now suffering under the 'management' of a plump fairy worshiper, who I'm thinking needs to be fired.  This town could use another gaming shop / pirate radio station / Ren Faire goods outlet store.  There are also many credit-ruined people living in motels, unable to afford cars and insurance ... so a cab/limo service (currently nonexistant here) might be useful.  I just bought a 1995 Fleetwood stretch limo in remarkably good shape for $3000usd yesterday (with a major Ghost Busters vibe), then got a traffic ticket for tossing a snowball onto someone's windshield.  (I was passenger in my friend's pickup truck, keeping an eye on dangerous drivers).  The fellow was drifting across lanes without using a turn signal, and followed us back to our apartment, where he screamed obscenities across the frozen parking lots - after calling the police.  Turns out the local police know the man by name - ex-military with PTSD and violent tendencies.  Apparently, he wasn't in a very good mood.  A shame, really, since other people (earlier) had been enjoying the diversion of adhoc snowball skirmishes.  This area has been hammered by snow the last week or so, with many car crashes and emergency vehicles running day and night.  People really should pay more attention when driving in crowded conditions, imho.

Anyway, my truck's fuel pump has been replaced, and I need to go get it.

   Happy Holidays, whatever your language/culture.

...and feel free to delete whatever isn't socially acceptable here, of course

[6742f79e2ac32BenNM]

RocketMan, I believe chemical imbalances (age, situation, diet) can cause abnormal stress.  When someone gets 'irrational', they don't think the way you'd expect.  Things that *were* important seem meaningless or serve as painful reminders of the way things no longer are.  Coping with loss...? (of whatever flavor and magnitude)

...It can be like having too much to drink, with inhibitions lowered while in a 'foul' frame of mind.  The term 'irrational' may not be entirely accurate when applied generally.  Normal people in abnormal situations do things that might seem strange to us - especially if we've not been in that situation personally.

Anyway, right - off to go get my truck back. *s*

[6742f79e2aedfMarvin]

This is still a SS2 review thread, ... right?

What makes a suicidal person irrational?  Not leading with this question, just curious.

Being suicidial (not the same as contemplating suicide, most people do that at some point in their life), in almost every society, in almost any circumstance, is deemed a mental disorder. Such definitions are, of course, always debatable as you can see by following the international discussions on assisted suicide in case of a severe terminal illness,  but the case presented here is rather unambiguous.

@Kolya: It's not a euphemism for idiot, it's the definition of a person incapable to or unsuccesful in applying proper reasoning.

[6742f79e2b021Kolya]

I know that you didn't mean it as an euphemism for idiots but the way it was phrased made it too easy to dismiss them as such. The point I was trying to make is that persons who attempt suicide haven't always been irrational and have a good chance of going back to a more rational state of mind. It's one specific irrational situation they are in at the time.

[6742f79e2b1edRocketMan]

You can successfully rationalize any level of existence.  You could rationalize the existence of a squirrel on the grounds that it is doing a good job collecting nuts, mating, evading predators, etc.  However, what parameters ought we to apply to a human?  I would think that a person's expectations would be commensurate with his environment, with his physical and mental endowment, genetic predispositions, with the people around him, and through mirroring the expectations of society as a whole.  This makes each person's expectations of themselves unique.  Person A may be unable or unwilling to settle for a level of existence sufficient for person B but that does not mean he is exercising poor reasoning.  In fact his reasoning may be perfectly consistent with Person B, the only difference being that he has failed to meet his expectations while person B is meeting or exceeding them.  You could argue that this isn't a good enough reason to end one's life but again it depends on that person's worldview and how ingrained it is.  Maybe it can be changed.  Maybe changing it would bring tremendous agony for an extended period of time.  Maybe it cannot be changed at all.  These possible outcomes may have less to do with "proper reasoning" and more to do with an improper mix of inherent characteristics, nurturing and environmental factors.

[6742f79e2b44cMarvin]

I know that you didn't mean it as an euphemism for idiots but the way it was phrased made it too easy to dismiss them as such. The point I was trying to make is that persons who attempt suicide haven't always been irrational and have a good chance of going back to a more rational state of mind. It's one specific irrational situation they are in at the time.

Well, yes, of course.

[6742f79e2b6f1OmegaDEATH]

I know that you didn't mean it as an euphemism for idiots but the way it was phrased made it too easy to dismiss them as such. The point I was trying to make is that persons who attempt suicide haven't always been irrational and have a good chance of going back to a more rational state of mind. It's one specific irrational situation they are in at the time.

Been there, done that, got the shirt at the store for it.

Today I think my head is pretty screwed on straight compared to then.
But I can still cave in, i just need the right POKE.

[6742f79e2b7e1BenNM]

Just wanted to stop in and say I don't have anything particular to add.  *s*