The persistence of life

The problem with the gene pool is that people keep on widdling in it.

Darwin’s theory of evolution stated that the species best suited to the environment would be the one that flourished the most in it. Therefore, in wide, open grasslands, crocodiles wouldn’t stand much of a chance. For that matter, gazelles wouldn’t do too well in swampy areas either, but that’s another story.

Humans have gone beyond such trivial nonsense, it seems. With the advent of medicine, hell, with the beginning of science, we’ve consistently been increasing the chances that a weaker species/specimen would survive in a hostile environment. There are thousands upon thousands of cases where a baby that would otherwise have been stillborn was saved by medical technology – c-sections, infant incubators, whatever. And that’s an absolutely fantastic thing for the mother – I can only imagine how much it would torture someone to lose a baby even before it was born.

Medical marvels aren’t just limited to unlucky babies, though. In thousands of cases, people on the brink of death have been brought back from the edge, coaxed back into a semi-life. With enough time, healing, treatment, and so on, pretty much any sort of problem can be solved. My question, though, is this.

Is it right?

It seems to me we’re taking away a very basic right of all creatures – the right to die.

Now before the more excitable of you start leaping about and screaming bloody murder, let me explain myself.

I think it’s fantastic that we can save so many lives these days. The pain that someone goes through when they lose a loved one is simply unbearable – my dog died in my arms, and that was bad enough that I wouldn’t even want to consider the thought of losing someone who I’ve actually talked to. However, do me a favour. Re read the last sentence, and tell me who’s going through the pain. The person (or animal) who’s moving on, or the one that gets left behind?

We’ve come to the point that we simply cannot control our emotions – they become our yardstick rather than intellect, and rational thought. Yes, I know, it’s pretty obvious that I’d change my tune in a second if it was someone I loved on the brink – I’d be hysterical in my efforts to prevent it happening, but nonetheless. It’s an emotional thing.

Let’s take an example.

Suppose there’s a man, who’s been in a terrible accident. One of his legs is mangled beyond repair, and one of his arms as well. His ribs have been broken, internal bleeding, loads of complications. The doctor tells you, his relative, that he can be saved, but he’ll lose an arm and a leg, and will probably not have too many years left to live – and while he does, he’ll have all sort of trouble, chronic pain, breathing difficulty, the whole nine yards. Given that he’s also unconscious, and that a decision has to be taken, and quickly, what would you do?

Say you save him.

He’s alive, but barely so. His leg is gone, and one arm as well, so her has to learn new ways of doing everything – from tying his shoelaces, to driving, to cutting the top off a boiled egg. His active life is gone, and so, for that matter, is his independence – until he’s managed to create a new way of life for himself, he’s utterly dependent on someone else. His life isn’t that long, either – he hasn’t got much time left to do what he had planned. He’s constantly wracked by problems, breathing difficulties, muscle spasms, generalized pain, and so on – his life now revolves around medications to treat his body. Then, there’s the psychological angle. He once was a whole human being, and remembers that time all too well – unless he’s an extremely stable person, personality wise, he’d be completely destroyed – imagine the thought of waking up one day, and only having the use of one arm and leg, and to be in constant pain, for the rest of your (short) life.

And you made this decision for him. Because you would miss him if he were gone. Hell, it’s not your daily battle to fight, is it?

Death isn’t much better, to be sure. Your life ends there and then. The only positive thing you could say about it is that it isn’t a lingering one.

At the end of the day, it should be HIS decision.

It’s a knotty problem, that’s for sure. You can’t ask the person what he wants, since he’s unconscious. You cant say let him go, since what if he wanted to live? You can’t say save him – well, not without some thought – since it’s a pretty sad life you’re consigning him to.

If it were me in that accident – well. Surprising as it may be, bring me the hell back, and find out the number of the truck that hit me.