What would the first year's death toll be from easy suicide?

[Erik Mesoy]

Imagine if suicide suddenly became as easily available as clapping one's hands or blowing a raspberry. Approximately what would be the death toll from this in the first year, including the deliberate suicides, the temporary depressions, the people joining all the other suicides so far out of induced depression, and all the others?

Poll is only really equipped for one question, feel free to discuss how many people would die later on, and whether eventually people would go extinct.

Finally, would this presumably large death toll be a bad thing?

This is not a trick question. I am not going to pull a morality standard out of my hat and hold you to it. I am asking whether you would favor or not the introduction of easily and quickly available suicide as described above with the expected repercussions.

There is a point to this; a contradiction of some popular assumptions that I think many people make, sometimes without noticing it. It is sneaky and hidden.

EDIT: Clarifications.
Assume that the method in question 1) is known to cause death and only death, so people won't forget what it does, and 2) can only be triggered by oneself, and can't be hijacked for murder (except indirectly by slipping people mood-altering drugs, but then you might as well slip them poison).

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Do we include accidental suicides?

 

[Dachs]

lol sixty-nine

 

[Kyriakos]

I dont think that that many people wish to kill themselves. Of course if suicide was so easy then it would take less will to actually achieve it, so many who would otherwise not do it would then die.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Do we include accidental suicides?

Do you think they'll be a large enough number to be relevant? I can't imagine accidentally blowing a raspberry.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Probably not. As for the poll question, my estimate would be the rate of people who have contemplated and planned a suicide, whatever that rate is.

 

[eastsidebagel]

Most people wanna live, even with those given conditions.
I voted for 1-5%.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Most people wanna live, even with those given conditions.
I voted for 1-5%.

All the time? Part of the point here is also that there's no delay while buying a gun or going out on a bridge to think over the suicide.

 

[emzie]

People with poor impulse control (teens) would be decimated.

 

[Dachs]

People with poor impulse control (teens) would be decimated.

Only decimated?

 

[Miles Teg]

Do you think they'll be a large enough number to be relevant? I can't imagine accidentally blowing a raspberry.

Depends on the easiness of the gesture, and how similar it is to other ones. I might not accidentally blow a raspberry, but I could easily forget that blowing a raspberry is fatal. And then of course you'd have kids experimenting and playing around...

And what about all the murders that could be committed taking advantage of the mechanism...

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Only decimated?

Depends on whether you use the "lose one in ten" or "reduced to one in ten" definition. And then we would probably have a lot of parents and grandparents committing suicide after watching their kids go.

Depends on the easiness of the gesture, and how similar it is to other ones. I might not accidentally blow a raspberry, but I could easily forget that blowing a raspberry is fatal. And then of course you'd have kids experimenting and playing around...

And what about all the murders that could be committed taking advantage of the mechanism...

Okay, assume that whatever does it is a) generally known to cause death, and only death, b) can only be done by oneself. Will edit first post.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Only decimated?

Ah, another person who knows the true meaning of that word.

 

[TheLastOne36]

I remember as a kid, if something went wrong (like being grounded) i would think of 'hating my life' and 'wishing i was dead' and 'asking god to kill me' complete with the occasional crying.

I wonder if i would have had enough control back then to not commit suicide if the situation was like the OP was talking about.

 

[eastsidebagel]

All the time? Part of the point here is also that there's no delay while buying a gun or going out on a bridge to think over the suicide.

Most people are strong enough to resist the temptation of ending it all, even when they suddenly encounter something terrible. If it would be otherwise, much more people would choose that option, I mean, even in RL, suicide isn't all that hard to practise.

People with poor impulse control (teens) would be decimated.

Therefore I think 5% of the total population would commit suicide, but probabaly not many more than that.

 

[emzie]

Ah, another person who knows the true meaning of that word.

Anyone who has seen a History Channel show on the Romans knows it.

And I'm going to guess it'd be that rate for the few few months or years and then level out to the same rate of suicide that countries currently have. Not doing that taboo thing would become part of enculturation to the same extent of not slashing your throat open is.

 

[El_Machinae]

Erik, I don't know that answer to the question. I don't know how many people choose not to attempt suicide due to inconvenience or due to concern about the suicide not working.

My city has a 'favourite' suicide bridge, and apparently there are a few suicides every month there. And *I* certainly wouldn't expect certain death jumping off a bridge, so the concern about not dying might disuade some people.

The number of people who suffer a bout of clinical depression in their lifespan is pretty high, though. 20%, IIRC? I don't know what portion of them would blow a raspberry to end it all.

 

[pau17]

It wouldn't be quite as high as what some may think, IMO. For the people that really want out, it's not that hard already, and episodes of suicidal depression can last much, much longer than the time it takes to buy a gun. I think it's the idea that someone's memory and obligations would remain after death that keeps many people from doing it.

If you had a magical red button that someone could press to make it as if they had never existed, that nobody would remember them, that they would simply be gone and that's that--then I think it would be much higher.

 

[cubsfan6506]

Everyone would eventually. Mainly through the dominoe effect. ie one person does it so their significat other does. Then the significant others family does it ect.

 

[Antilogic]

The number of people who suffer a bout of clinical depression in their lifespan is pretty high, though. 20%, IIRC? I don't know what portion of them would blow a raspberry to end it all.

I figured somewhere just over 10%, just because of similar numbers for depression and maybe half would take the easy way out.