Should we have the choice of legally ending our life? Imagine you're 90 years old. You're mostly self-sufficient, but notice mind slips from time time. Energy levels are low. Bladder control is weak. You're just slow to do things. And driving has started to raise questions.
You don't want to be a burden for others as you age - a concern for my mom. Imagine going "this is a suicide assisted facility and deciding where it ends."
In March of 2024 at the age of 90, this is exactly what Daniel Kahneman did. He was on a trip from New York to Paris with his partner and they met his daughter and her family. All was good and normal. Dinners. Walks around Paris. Museums. The ballet and enjoying the decadence of the Paris food scene.
Then Kahneman flew to Switzerland. He emailed those close to him that he decided to end his life. Confusing? Controversial? Probably Kahneman, a psychologist at Princeton University, he won a Nobel Prize in economics and best-selling author of "Thinking, Fast and Slow." He was a thought leader and influential in his ideas. Kahneman was known at the leading authority on decision-making. How could he just decide to end it?
His death has caused many to question it. Most would say at 90, Kahneman was in good health, mentally and physically. Did he know something others didn't? Did he lose his will to live? Maybe, there was nothing left for him to do or prove. Rather than suffer in old age, he said, 'yup, I'm done right here.'
What are your thoughts? Should we have a choice in when we go? Should there be a checklist to arrive there? Old age? Terminal illness?