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

[AvsJoe]

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."

Damn ninja, beat me to it.

I agree that each and every death is in its own way tragic. But nothing is so tragic that you can't joke about it. Nothing is so sacred in my opinion that it's above being joked about. However, being a disrespectful asshole is always wrong, so there is always a tightrope that one must walk when joking about such things.

 

[zedel]

In my opinion, tragic is the negative version of epic.

Traumatically epic = tragic

 

[gallaetha_matt]

I have the exact opposite view. As soon as I find out that a celebrity has died, I immediately start thinking up jokes about it. It's kind of cruel, but they knew the risks when they became more successful than me.

For example, I hear that a girl called Valerie was the one that killed Amy Winehouse. Karma is a *****, eh?

This is just something I reserve for celebrities that I didn't particularly care for when they were alive. I actually felt deeply depressed for a week after Dio passed away and when Captain Beefheart died I spent a whole weekend drinking whole crates of beer and listening to Magic Band. It's an overreaction, sure - but these are people whose lives meant something to me, and it's quite galling when you realise that you'll never see Dio live in your lifetime.

I don't think anybody made any jokes after Dio passed, but if they had done I'd have let them slide. I wouldn't have berated anybody over 'em, I'd consider it payback for all the Michael Jackson jokes I made in 2009.

I'm a hypocrite. But I think I've owned up to that in other threads before now. It's just one of my many flaws.

Like for example, by responding to this thread in the manner that I have, I'm admitting that Amy Winehouse lived a more successful life than me.

I wonder if I have any of that Beefheart beer left...

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I don't particularly care if someone dies if I don't personally know them. Everyone crapped their pants for a week when Micheal Jackson died... but he was a ghoulish-looking child molester. I don't really care.

People die. It's the way the world works. Amy Winehouse was found dead TODAY, and after I read the headline and said "Wow really?" I got over it in about 10 seconds and immediately forgot about it. I don't know her, and I didn't care for her as a human being, so I really couldn't care less. I do empathize with her family, but that's different.

 

[Giest4life]

Does it refer to death of bots and AI characters, or something? Because this thread is in the "Gaming Discussion" section.

Also, no, all death is not tragic. In the words of emperor Tiberius: "Life--is a long death. Fool that I was to shorten the lives of so many!...I should have given them eternal life: then I could have watched them die forever."

 

[krazykidd]

Death is not tragic , from a completly distant point of view, nobody that dies matters. But of course we couldn't say that to a person who just lost someone. The politically correct thing to do is offer sympathy for anyone who has died.The reality of the matter is , if a person you dont't know personally dies you dont really care . The absolut worst is when people like michael jackson dies. During his life he was a pedophile, crazy , weird and all sorts of things . When he died he almost became a GOD.

Let's just hope oprah lives forever, because the day she leaves us, hell will break loose.

 

[pilf]

I found the current situation in Norway highly unnerving until in foundout my Norwegian friend was safe, the same may not be true for some of her friends however, which has (for some reson) hiegtened my emotional connection to the situation.

I guess (like many others) I find the personl realation to a situation to be the largest ipact on a tragic situation such as death.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

All life is important and precious. Even the death of the worst person ever is a loss because that person could have been redeemed.

Albert Fish disagrees with you.

So does John Wayne Gacy.

 

[Koroviev]

It's crass to publicly express apathy for someone who has recently passed away. If people really didn't care, then I don't think they would feel so compelled to announce it. Rather, I think that such people are really seeking to dismiss those who do feel sadness with respect to the death. It's not cool.

 

[Loner Jo Jo]

well, based upon your definition of tragic, then no, not all deaths would be tragic. If Joe Schmo dies, and I didn't know him then I would not be personally affected. I wouldn't shed a single tear over him. Same with celebrities.

However, to me, tragic doesn't imply personal grief. I can sympathize with the friends and family of the person who passed because I, like all people, understand what it's like to lose someone close to you. Beyond that, I also think that it is tasteless to not recognize this fact or worse, to joke or revel in someone's death. I hate to open this can of worms, but take Osama bin Laden. He is generally consider a bad person. He caused, either directly or indirectly, the death of countless numbers of people. However, even after he was killed, I didn't revel in his death. Sure, I was glad that he had been stopped, but death isn't something I would wish on anyone.

 

[Princess Rose]

At the executing a murderer part, to specify. Thats fucking stupid.

That's remarkably impolite of you. If you disagree with me, fine, but don't insult me.

Please don't derail this into a death penalty thread.

I wasn't attempting to do so - I was merely stating a case where one could be both glad someone is dead, but at the same time feel sorry for them.

If you don't want the conversation going in that direction, then I suggest you stop bringing it up.

 

[Vault101]

http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html

this article explains it all, basicically one death is a tragdety a million is a statistic

its not that we are heartless basterds...its that our brain cant process that amount of induviduals dying

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

There's sympathy and then there's respect. You don't have to feel personally affected, but show the necessary decorum, i.e. offer condolences, don't say anything rude about the departed.

It is also perfectly natural to feel some degree of sadness at the death of anyone who isn't an incorrigible shit. I assume this is all about Amy Winehouse, so I'll use her as an example. She may have been a shambling junkie, but she was a person, with hopes, dreams, fears, loves, quirks and all else that makes up a human. The loss of almost anyone is sad, even speaking objectively. I'm not going to break down and cry about it, or even feel that bad, but it is sad.

I suppose, my view is that just because something isn't tragic to you, that doesn't mean it isn't tragic.

What I find the most tragic is that she must have had family and friends that cared about her.
It's just the waste of a life, that upsets people, I think.

 

[Twilight_guy]

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.

 

[Kohake]

It'd depend on what "Show a little sympathy" means. I mean, if I met someone who's family had died I wouldn't tell them "though shit". But it's not going to ruin my day if someone told me that a hundred people I didn't know were murdered. It's not going to make anyone feel any better, and quite frankly it's difficult for me to care.

EDIT: Yeah, I do see death, in general, as a negativ thing. I just don't get emotional about it unless it affects me.

 

[chimeracreator]

Death is part of life, it isn't tragic in and of itself. Everything that is born will die, that's isn't tragic. That's the ultimate equalizer. What matters isn't that you live or die, but what you do with your life and death. Can it be tragic if a life that promises to do great things is cut short? Sure, why not, but that says nothing about death in general.

Remember, we eat other living things to live ourselves. Even plants that can produce their own food kill each other to ensure their own survival and that of their offspring. To call this tragic is to call life tragic and to me, that rendering the term meaningless.

 

[TheBoulder]

All death is tragic. Someone I've never heard of dying may not be tragic to me, but to someone it is.

 

[StormShaun]

I think that most death is tragic, but if the person has commited an evil act and was asking to kick the bucket, well I dont really feel anything towards that person since its all because of them they died.

 

[WayOutThere]

It's tragic that some people turn out so evil that they deserve to die however it's not tragic when they do die.

 

[6_Qubed]

If someone I know and care for dies, it's a tragedy.

If someone else dies, it's a statistic. And I don't weep for statistics.

Simple as that. No need to complicate it.