Poll: "Show a little sympathy; all death is tragic !"

[thelonewolf266]

I would agree all death is tragic but if it is self inflicted its less tragic because it was their own fault to clarify I don't mean all suicides are less tragic as they could be brought on by bullying or depression and fatal accidents where it was the victim who was to blame aren't included either.I mean when someone overdoses on drugs or is speeding or something similar where they are doing something stupid its their own fault however its still tragic because its no the fault of their loved ones but they are still victims.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I find myself really depressed and exhausted today by hearing about the shootings of teenagers in Norway.

It's just awful and tragic and sickening.

I don't know how anybody can hear about somthing like that and not feel anything? It's a bit strange to me.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

I think if you dont feel bad about a death, you shouldnt pretend you do.

For example, A few minutes ago my mother told me Amy Winehouse was dead. My reaction "ah. cool". She wasnt happy. Im not one to revel in someones death, but I dont really care that shes dead, just like I didnt care that she was alive.

I do think it rather indicative of how celebrity-centric our society is that she mentioned Amy Winehouse before the terror attacks in Norway.

Edit:

Spoiler: Also This

 

[Genixma]

Tragic isn't a word I'd use. Inevitable.

 

[Makon]

I voted no. I will mourn the celebrity and the other person whom I never knew, but for a psychopathic murderer's death to be mourned? To me, that is insane. I can't consider the death of an evil person 'tragic'. Sorry, but I can't.

 

[chimeracreator]

If you honestly don't care unless it affect you personally then you're very selfish. A very selfish person won't understand the fact that death often makes someone somewhere sad and thus is tragic for the people affect by the death.

No, not caring about another person dying who you have no connection it isn't selfish. It's actually the healthy way to respond to death. Between the time that I started writing this post and finished someone somewhere will have died. Odds are neither of us have any connection to this person, so we shouldn't care.

Now if you knew that this person was your great aunt's, sister's best friend's child who wanted to be a football player when he grew up, but ended up becoming an accountant after hurting his knee in a high school game where he was a decent, but not all that good, line backer. Then you might care a little because knowing that creates a connection to the death.

But caring about a single person dying that you have no connection to whatsoever? That's not healthy. Someone most likely cares, but that someone doesn't have to be you. Likewise people who know that someone might care that this person cares. However as you keep stretching away from the main event it seems unlikely that anyone would much care that someone cared that someone else cared that someone died.

Now it is true that a lot of her fans feel a connection to her because of her music. So they have a reason to care, and those around them have a reason to care that they care. This doesn't mean that everyone should always care about EVERY death. In the end in order to care, you need to be personally affected on some level. That isn't being selfish, that's what it means to be sane.

 

[Caligulust]

Tragic to somebody, I guess.

Probably family, especially the parents. In the case of Amy Whinehouse, I don't think many are concerned. She kind of became an infamous druggy, and through that a joke. Her parents are probably sad if they are not estranged. As much grief as she has gotten she was still their daughter, and they might feel guilt about her problems.

My uncle had a girlfriend who died this year. I didn't care. Felt bad for my uncle, though. She was a drug addict who he continually asked to get help. A day or two before she died they had an argument in which he warned her she might end up killing herself. She'd been doing this since they had started dating, but it got progressively worse. She stole prescription pads and sold his clothing. When he was ready to leave her, she ended up getting pregnant. She had her child, and proceeded to being a crappy mom. She would use her daughter as leverage to get her way in situations. Such as leaving her daughter with somebody else when going to her grandmother's (who hadn't seen her yet) birthday to get back at her father. My uncle had caught her cheating on him. Most concerning was when he had left their daughter with her for a weekend while he went on a trip to find out she had been getting plastered and having sex with some dude. Despite saying she'd stopped he found out after her death she was still having an affair. He also found shop lifting tickets she kept in a file and never paid off.

My grandmother and I seemed like the only people who weren't crying at her funeral. I doubt many other people knew of the drama, though. In the end I was neutral. Her story might sound tragic, but sympathy didn't help her when she was alive.

 

[serenityzero]

"Tragic" is a term relevant to different people.
To someone who knew and liked someone who passed away, their death would be tragic.
To someone who didn't know someone who passed away, their death would be less so if at all.

All death is tragic to someone. But no death tragic to everyone.

Well said. Being aware that someone has died and not being torn up about it doesn't mean you're a monster, or even a bad person. If you got upset, or even felt anything, about all the crappy stuff that goes on no one would ever leave the house. Hell we'd all kill ourselves and get caught in an endless cycle of suicide and mourning -_-' Desensitization has a purpose...not pretty, not PC, but there for a reason.

 

[WayOutThere]

To call this tragic is to call life tragic and to me, that rendering the term meaningless.

Interesting thought however I see reason to disagree. The current state of affairs of life having to kill other life to survive is not ideal. If we could find some way to alter life so this is no longer necessary we should. Just because this is the way things are doesn't mean it's the way things should be a la the naturalistic fallacy. Similarly, if we could alter human physiology so that no one is born a psychopath we should.

 

[Amphoteric]

When I was told she died I was mildly supprised and then immediately carried on with my life. I don't care.

Osama Bin Ladens death was tragic to those that supported him.

 

[Jonabob87]

I've read this many times on forums. What do you think of it? Do you agree? Disagree?
I have to say, no.
If someone who I don't know dies, why does it have to be tragic to ME? If some celebrities death occurs, why should I have to have be personally affected? The fact is I don't know 99% of the Earth population, and death happens every day. Hundreds of thousands of people die every day. I don't enter into a day by day depression over it. Something being horrible is one person's opinion.

Tragedy isn't a subjective thing, that's why we differentiate personal tragedy from general tragedy by calling it personal tragedy.

A person getting hit by a bus is tragic because they leave behind loved ones and have died before their time (theoretically), it's not dependent on whether or not you are personally affected.

If your dad died, it would be a personal tragedy to you, but a general tragedy to others. I'd genuinely call that a tragedy, even though it would have literally no effect on me. Get it?

 

[JezebelinHell]

"If the living can be spoken ill of, why not the dead?"
Alice: Madness Returns

Death doesn't change my feelings. I wouldn't sugar-coat it for them in life either, it crosses the borders of honesty. I will not offer false sympathy, get over it. However, I usually just skip commenting and keep the thoughts of "child molester" and "no surprise there" to myself.

 

[Vykrel]

no, its always tragic.

for example: Osama Bin Laden was somewhat recently shot dead. hopefully, no good-hearted people lost sleep over it.

also, if that psycho that caused all the recent terror in Norway were to suddenly just drop dead, it would actually be a good thing. after doing what he decided to do, he has become nothing but a waste of food, water, oxygen, space and money.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

Unavoidable death is tragic, deaths that are the result off a human choice (no suicide), such as drug overdose and the such, are not; Where the person in question knew the result and showed no intention to avoid it (Though their lives can be considered tragic based on what caused them to go in that direction, fame god-mode is not a valid reason, however history of abuse is).
As for celeb deaths, refer to above statment to discover my opinion. However, after seeing it on news for the 7th day in a row I do find myself giving up on feeling sad and just wishing it would go away already (same for tragic events and the such). Tis kinda cold I know, but too much harping (which the media does alot) just annoys me more than it makes me feel sad.

 

[icame]

No, at least not to me. I believe that many people deserve to die, so I sure as hell did not find Osama-bin Ladan dieing to be anything 'tragic.' Nor do I find it tragic when someone I don't know died, unless the death was en-mass, I.E. The recent attack in oslo. Maybe I am somewhat heartless but I cannot change how and when I feel compassion towards others. That's just how I am I suppose.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Every death is a tragedy, even at times when death is necessary, that need in and of itself is a tragedy.

There are a lot more cynics in here than I'd anticipated, but your opinion is your own.

(Can we stop saying he posted this in the wrong section? The universe isn't going to implode.)

 

[teebeeohh]

no, death is never tragic, if you want tragic read an ancient Greek play and stop using the word wrong. a death is tragic if you eat healthy and exercise a lot but because of that you die from cancer at 25 while living like a slob would have let you live to a ripe old age.

 

[chimeracreator]

Interesting thought however I see reason to disagree. The current state of affairs of life having to kill other life to survive is not ideal. If we could find some way to alter life so this is no longer necessary we should. Just because this is the way things are doesn't mean it's the way things should be a la the naturalistic fallacy. Similarly, if we could alter human physiology so that no one is born a psychopath we should.

Energy comes from decay, and life requires energy. You can't have life without something decaying, and if something living decays enough we call it death. There is only a finite amount of stuff to begin with so there is only a finite amount things can decay. As such there, is a finite limit on all life as it requires decay and thus death.

The only way to change this is to learn how to make more matter or energy from nothing. Now I wouldn't object to gaining godly powers, but I don't see it as something we should bank on happening before we all rot and pass the torch on to future generations.

 

[zehydra]

if it takes someone to say "show some sympathy" then obviously not all death is tragic for all.

Death is always around us, we can't weep for people we don't care about.