From the cradle to the grave
| 7 October, 2010 | Richard P. Grant |
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if you make a discovery, there’s no other way to gain the confidence that you can make a discovery
Martin Raff (read his profile at The Scientist) gives advice to young scientists. He says that it’s important to do something great early in your career, to boost confidence; which means placing yourself in a position where you have the greatest chance of making a discovery of note.
We’re all going to die. Many people die horrific deaths when it’s totally unnecessary
Raff ‘s perspective on the end of life is also worth listening to. Here he describes his parents’ decision to kill themselves, and the shocking treatment of his father by the authorities.
Video from Web of Stories; see all of Martin Raff’s stories.
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Video Cradle to Grave did no play…
Hi Paul
it seems to be OK here. Can you let me know your system and browser? (and try again. Sometimes the server has a hiccough).
Thank-you for this story; it lends abit of courage. I have had an opposite experience with my parents and certainly don’t look forward to repeating it myself. However, if I were to make this choice, I would be entirely alone and that doesn’t appeal to me either. I guess I’m still working on the problem….
Very moving, sage discussion of end-of-life issues. Thanks to Martin for his courage to reveal his family’s experiences.
I found this snip on the voluntary euthanasia of Martin Raff’s parents fascinating. It was open and honest. And I would like to commend him for it. Leaving aside this particular example, there are so many diseases where we willfully condemn the sufferers to “see it out to the bitter end” when that outcome is inevitable anyway (particularly with something like MND or terminal cancer). And, usually, it is not far away. Controls ARE essential and they would need to be tough. But we are stuck in a way of dealing with this situation that is driven by too many acqired prejudices – and the fundamental application of religious dogma is probably (partly historically) at the root of many of them. Not all men and women with a strong faith allow it to turn them into religious dogmatists (religare – to tie up, to tie back). Literally interpretating passages in a book written some 2-3 millenia ago is probably not an unequivocally sound principle (your God’s need to evolve along with societies). My vote is to allow controlled euthanasia in deserving circumstances. It can then happen with family and friends around for the “event”. I would far rather be a voluntary attendee at my own imminent funeral in such circumstances. But the legalisation of any such event would need to go through thoroughly administered and individual assessments before the threat of legal action for a criminal action is waived. We can learn from the experiences of other countries. At the moment, though, doctors in the UK are often surreptitiously maximising legitimate medication (often opiates) in the knowledge that they also have a convenient “other effect”.
The first mistake was attempting euthanasia in Florida – home of the Terry Shiavo case.
Would your parents not have been better off going to Oregon or even countries in Europe where it is legal?