Coincidence of Suicide and Research?
I've been looking into some theories for systematizing knowledge and bumped into a bad coincidence between this line of research and what has recently happened to those who persue it. They commit suicide. About this time of the year too. Hehe. Don't worry about me; I was outraged that two of the leading researchers chose to end their lives, but am still curious. The conclusions generated by a semantic wiki would be philosophically enormous, and it was the original (and current) intention of the World Wide Web.
1. Research: systemization of knowledge
2. Tools: semantic wiki, computed algorithms
3. Two leading research projects:
A. Open Mind Commen Sense
B. Mindpixel
4. The two leaders of these research projects:
A. Singh apparently commits suicide Feb. '06, aged 34;
the hyperlink attached to Singh's name is (or was) his blog, the public portion at least
B. McKinstry "... was dressed and had a plastic bag over his head, with a hose that was connected to the gas pipe. Prolonged inhalation ... were the cause of death" in Jan. '06, aged 38;
and, again, the hyperlink attached to McKinstry's name was his blog, a private portion of which posted his suicide note
Well what to conclude from this coincidence? stop thinking about it? Nah. Both Singh and McKinstry were computer scientists, not philosophers per se, so perhaps they did not realize the personal implications of their research. I'm not judging, just speculating. The separation of theory from daily life will, I think, tear a person apart. When you study something yet live in incongruously, then how could you keep explaining away things that don't stand up to what your writing about?? No, life must be harmonous to avoid self-destruction. If living in the moment is the ideal, then I unbind my watch and fold my day-planner. It's rather disturbing to temporally constipated people who want me at such-and-such place at some specified time.
*meh*
1. Research: systemization of knowledge
2. Tools: semantic wiki, computed algorithms
3. Two leading research projects:
A. Open Mind Commen Sense
B. Mindpixel
4. The two leaders of these research projects:
A. Singh apparently commits suicide Feb. '06, aged 34;
the hyperlink attached to Singh's name is (or was) his blog, the public portion at least
B. McKinstry "... was dressed and had a plastic bag over his head, with a hose that was connected to the gas pipe. Prolonged inhalation ... were the cause of death" in Jan. '06, aged 38;
and, again, the hyperlink attached to McKinstry's name was his blog, a private portion of which posted his suicide note
Well what to conclude from this coincidence? stop thinking about it? Nah. Both Singh and McKinstry were computer scientists, not philosophers per se, so perhaps they did not realize the personal implications of their research. I'm not judging, just speculating. The separation of theory from daily life will, I think, tear a person apart. When you study something yet live in incongruously, then how could you keep explaining away things that don't stand up to what your writing about?? No, life must be harmonous to avoid self-destruction. If living in the moment is the ideal, then I unbind my watch and fold my day-planner. It's rather disturbing to temporally constipated people who want me at such-and-such place at some specified time.
*meh*