On 4/20/07, Andrew Gray <shimgray(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 20/04/07, Marc Riddell
<michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net> wrote:
As for the Suicide methods Article: I can see no
positive reason for its
existence.
I can. It's part of a field of academic study - a current one, one
that reflects a facet of modern society - and an encyclopedia is
essentially a synopsis of existing academic knowledge for the general
reader.
Why is it a field of research? Why does it help society to know about
what methods someone chooses to take their life, rather than just the
bald numbers of how many do?
It informs public debate. It informs the debate on gun control to know
the levels and patterns of shooting sucides; it informs the debate on
restructions on sale of dangerous substances to know the rates of
self-induced poisoning; it informs the debate on drug policy to be
able to confidently divide drug-overdose statistics into wilful and
accidental.
But...that's not in the article, and there's no reason that it
shouldn't be in an article on [[suicide]].
It tells us interesting things about cultures and
groups, using this
as another way to examine similarities and differences.
And, yes, it helps those who wish to kill themselves choose a method.
But it also helps those who wish to prevent them from doing so, by
informing them on the best ways to spend their energies.
If people want to kill themselves, they're going to do it. They're
going to read up on it, and if we have an article then, yes, they are
likely to read that. I know of cases where this has happened. It's
sad, but if we did not have this article, I don't think they would
have stopped.
I am really not convinced that having a factual, well-written,
non-sensationalist article on the methods by which people commit
suicide is any less appropriate for an encyclopedia by having a
factual, well-written, non-sensationalist article on the causes of
accidental death, or on the medical causes of death through illness.
Are there currently articles about either of those? [[Causes of
accidental death]]? Nope. [[Medical causes of death through
illness]]? Nope.
If the article was attempting to be a guide to
methods, then yes, it
should be cleaned up. But it is not an inherently vicious topic.
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk