A student designer pushes the thorny moral calculus of assisted suicide to the limit. No chance of burying the lede on this one: Yes, Royal College of Art student Julijonas Urbonas has designed a roller coaster that kills people on purpose. No, it's not real (yet). Is it a joke, a reductio ad absurdum of the arguments for assisted suicide, or a thought-provoking piece of conceptual art? Our guess: all three.
Urbonas describes the experience of riding his "hypothetic euthanasia machine" thusly: "The rider is subjected to a series of intensive motion elements that induce various unique experiences: from euphoria to thrill, and from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness, and, eventually, death... Celebrating the limits of the human body but also the liberation from the horizontal life, this ‘kinetic sculpture’ is in fact the ultimate roller coaster." It's like something out of the biting sci-fi satire film Idiocracy, except it's backed up by "advanced cross-disciplinary research in space medicine, mechanical engineering, [and] material technologies."
The 1:500 scale model Urbonas constructed doesn't paint as vivid a picture as the stats do. His death-coaster would have over 7,500 meters worth of track, including a half-kilometer-long "drop." During three minutes and 20 seconds of life-extinguishing fun, the coaster would inflict a maximum of 10 g's of force on your body for a full minute, hurtling along at 223 miles per hour. But it doesn't kill you by snapping your neck -- sweet release comes courtesy of "Cerebral hypoxia, lack of oxygen supply to the brain." (Bonus effects include, but are not limited to, "loss of color vision; loss of peripheral vision; Blackout; G-LOC -– G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness.")
Urbonas's deadpan descriptions of what various phases of his ride would feel like are worth reading in detail. At one point, the rider's "body would flail around in a chaotic fit that is called ‘funky chicken’ in aeromedical slang." And just in case you don't die, "a biomonitoring suit double-checks if there is a need for the second round, which is extremely unlikely." Questionable taste? No kidding.
But any discussion of assisted suicide is distasteful -- and in comparison to tiptoeing around the moral quagmire with euphemisms and empty platitudes, Urbonas's ideas start to sound bracingly honest. After all, if legal assisted suicide is something various governments can manage to stomach, a perverse contraption like "Euthanasia Coaster" becomes just as valid as any other means of getting the job done. Do not go gentle into that good night -- do it to the EXXXTREME!
On June 21 2011 07:26 Voltaire wrote: It will never be built.
How very profound and insightful.
Obviously it will never be built. But the fact that someone took the time/effort/money to simply come up with and design this, says something of our society.
On June 21 2011 07:30 XsebT wrote: And this would go on the All-Suicide channel and air every thursday right after the Grand Canyon Xtreme Livin'. I like it.
On June 21 2011 07:35 Megaliskuu wrote: Is it weird that the first thing I thougth when I saw the video is that the guy looked like a younger White_ra?
DUDE I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO SAY THAT
lmao, FIRST thing that popped into my head no lies.
Modern art is all about the debate it invokes. In this case it's doing its job pretty well. It's made people think about euthinasia by an absurd means.
It's also already provoked some awesome insights
On June 21 2011 07:26 Voltaire wrote: It will never be built.
On June 21 2011 07:35 Megaliskuu wrote: Is it weird that the first thing I thougth when I saw the video is that the guy looked like a younger White_ra?
DUDE I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO SAY THAT
lmao, FIRST thing that popped into my head no lies.
White-Ra's face is everywhere.
OP: This coaster presents an interesting take on the argument. If I was in immediate danger of not being able to do the things I love and to remember, recognize and talk to those around me, I would most likely ride the coaster.
I think it is an interesting idea. Without getting into whether or not this is moral, I think it would be a very intense way to die. I assume it would be both extremely fun and then terrifying when things start to get out of control.
I don't think this really "says something" about our society that someone took the time to design this. It was a student project, sometimes students do crazy projects. Honestly, I would think designing something like would be hilarious, I can imagine laughing with my friends about the absurdity of such a roller coaster.
For some reason, I highly doubt this anything more than a joke that got turned into a project.
Well if I was going to commit suicide, this would definitely be up there on the list of preferred methods of doing it. I always thought jumping from a skyscraper and aiming for someone would be my method of choice though. I mean if I was that angry at the world I wouldn't care about taking someone out with me and if they survived then they'd have a hell of a story to tell, probably even get news coverage. Luckily for all you big-city dwellers i'm not nearly selfish or unhappy enough to do that and I'm not religious so I want to make my one shot here last as long as possible. When I'm like 90years old though, you guys better keep your eyes to the sky.
On June 21 2011 07:30 ccHaZaRd wrote: i wonder if extremely trained jet pilots would survive it
I don't think anyone can survive 10g's of force, without some kind of suit pumping oxygen and keeping blood in the extremities.
Not 100% sure though.
It's not about the fact that it's 10g's it's about 10g's over an extended period of time. Death by extreme G's would be painful and horrible, just enough G force over a long period of time would be a gradual slip into unconsciousness which you don't return from.
I know if I was a condemned criminal, I'd want to go out in a badass way. Lethal injection, electric chairs... all too lame. Death Coaster fits as being legitimately awesome enough.
Also, if I was like 80 and diagnosed with untreatable cancer, I'd definitely consider this. It would be a much more awesome way to go than by sitting in my bed waiting to die.
Very... creative. If somehow throughout the roller coaster they can project images of one's growth it would be... hmmm... somewhat of an artistic piece. Imagine actually seeing your past experience and at you die at the end of the ride....
Few have courage to face their inevitable death - but is this roller coaster truly the easy way out of torment?
When reading this I immediately thought of all the coasters I made in the game Roller Coaster Tycoon that flew right off the track, but this guy is really taking the idea to new heights.
On June 21 2011 07:42 BlackJack wrote: Death from lack of oxygen to the brain but the ride only lasts for 3 minutes? That doesn't add up
you can surive 3minutes without breathing because theres still enough oxygen in your blood but at these g forces the blood is will never reach your brain the brain can't last a few seconds without oxygen
On June 21 2011 08:24 Holcan wrote: I'd hate to be the one who has the clean the roller coaster cars after a successful run.
I don't think it would be messy, just a dead body.
The released bowels will however be great fun to clean up.
OT: I don't have a problem with this rollercoaster. I've always believed people should be allowed to choose their own death, and this option doesn't especially shock me. I mean, I'm ok with drug induced death's, why should this rollercoaster change my opinion and be any worse then that? If this is ment to be provocative art, it has kind of failed hasn't it?
I feel like they'd turn this into a game show for criminals who have to serve for life where if the criminal survives, he or she gets released. It's an interesting idea, but who hasn't thought of spectacular ways to go out. In the end, all he did was show it on paper.
On June 21 2011 08:32 Blisse wrote: I feel like they'd turn this into a game show for criminals who have to serve for life where if the criminal survives, he or she gets released. It's an interesting idea, but who hasn't thought of spectacular ways to go out. In the end, all he did was show it on paper.
i love how he said for "overpopulation" as if there were to be too many people the government just starts shuttling in people to the rollercoaster to kill them lol
On June 21 2011 07:42 BlackJack wrote: Death from lack of oxygen to the brain but the ride only lasts for 3 minutes? That doesn't add up
you can surive 3minutes without breathing because theres still enough oxygen in your blood but at these g forces the blood is will never reach your brain the brain can't last a few seconds without oxygen
How does blood reach the brain during cardiac arrest? Does a person under 10g's of force have worse circulation than someone without a beating heart?
This seems like it would be a pretty cost effective method of execution once built. I can see it getting worked into plea deals for horrible crimes. "My client pleads guilty to the charges leveled against him on the grounds that he be executed via the kill coaster." You would see more deathrow inmates pleading guilty that way, at least they could go out in style.
On June 21 2011 07:24 TadH wrote: But any discussion of assisted suicide is distasteful -- and in comparison to tiptoeing around the moral quagmire with euphemisms and empty platitudes, Urbonas's ideas start to sound bracingly honest. After all, if legal assisted suicide is something various governments can manage to stomach, a perverse contraption like "Euthanasia Coaster" becomes just as valid as any other means of getting the job done. Do not go gentle into that good night -- do it to the EXXXTREME!
Am I the only one actually getting a little upset over this (boldfaced) sentence? It's argumentation like this that's killing every form of constructive discussion. Just because "various governments can manage to stomach the idea of legal assisted suicide" does not mean that any way to go about it is valid for exactly the reasons that we do not use aborted fetusses for football, and the same reason we don't kick chickens to death before we eat them, and that even when we are in a war we don't like our soldiers pissing on our enemies graves.
TL;DR: The boldfaced argumentation is a complete and utter fallacy, defeating any point being made in the paragraph and I really dislike this kind of reasoning.
I would not ride it. I guarantee you in the ride up the drop tower the suicidees would have second thoughts, and the scariness of knowing you will not come off that thing alive is not worth it. I would rather go out quickly and quietly.
That thing is fucking scary, just the sheer size of the drop and the number of rings is frightening.
On June 21 2011 09:01 Rembot wrote: This seems like it would be a pretty cost effective method of execution once built. I can see it getting worked into plea deals for horrible crimes. "My client pleads guilty to the charges leveled against him on the grounds that he be executed via the kill coaster." You would see more deathrow inmates pleading guilty that way, at least they could go out in style.
Cost effective? This thing is a half kilometer tall, and has to withstand 10 g's of force in most sections of the track. The construction and maintenance costs alone would be ridiculously prohibitive.
I still don't understand how it would be hard to clean though. G-force, afaik, does not cause blood to splatter all over the place, and I don't know how G-force alone would be enough to make someone's guts spill out.
I'm all for euthanasia and if I had some life destorying illness I'd like to go out properly... though I'm not sure this is quite it... its not very... dignified...
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
They should build it here, since euthanasia is legal here. Though I doubt it'll be accepted since it makes euthanasia into a form of art/fun and what if something would go wrong.
Wow at first I thought it was just a fancy name until I opened the thread. I'd question how painful this would be, lack of oxygen to the brain, no thanks.
Although the idea is pretty baller, like many people have said, I just can't see this becoming useful, practical, or even humane. Most people who want to commit assisted suicide will be already suffering from a multitude of painful illnesses, and the stress put on them would just be too much. It may kill them, yes, but it would do so in a painful and drawn-out manner. Lethal injection would be more comfortable.
As for the bit about executing criminals- if they want to die like that, sure, why not?
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
If a lethal injection is done wrong, which it is more than 60% (from what i heard in a documentary) it can cause the victim an incredible amount of pain, and since one of the chemicals they use in the injection is a paralyzing agent, they have no way of letting their pain out via scream.
Hypoxia is humane and can almost be euphoric in some situations.
I remember reading a book a long time ago, set in the future where the world population was unsustainable and everyone had to go to large amusement parks where the rides would randomly kill people to adjust the population levels.
On June 21 2011 07:30 ccHaZaRd wrote: i wonder if extremely trained jet pilots would survive it
They wouldn't be able to. An extremely hardened and experienced pilot could withstain maybe a G or two above what a normal human can withstand. They still need the equipment that pressurizes the extremities and forces blood to the brain, among other things.
On June 21 2011 07:40 youngminii wrote: A better version would be one that flings you off at the end.
I entered the thread fully expecting this and was dissapointed. Ive come up with far better suicide coasters on roller coaster tycoon. Poor effort by the guy.
On June 21 2011 09:01 Rembot wrote: This seems like it would be a pretty cost effective method of execution once built. I can see it getting worked into plea deals for horrible crimes. "My client pleads guilty to the charges leveled against him on the grounds that he be executed via the kill coaster." You would see more deathrow inmates pleading guilty that way, at least they could go out in style.
Cost effective? This thing is a half kilometer tall, and has to withstand 10 g's of force in most sections of the track. The construction and maintenance costs alone would be ridiculously prohibitive.
Oh yeah, this thing would be ridiculously expensive to build and maintain, I'll grant you that.
Problem is, nowadays criminals will fight their execution with every appeal they can come up with, bogging down the judicial system and creating exorbitant legal costs.
It would be waay cheaper to execute people with this, IF they don't fight it in the courts. It's a big if, but it's also a big coaster
On June 21 2011 07:30 ccHaZaRd wrote: i wonder if extremely trained jet pilots would survive it
They wouldn't be able to. An extremely hardened and experienced pilot could withstain maybe a G or two above what a normal human can withstand. They still need the equipment that pressurizes the extremities and forces blood to the brain, among other things.
Where one of those suits specially designed for this ride. No longer a euthanasia coaster. Now the best ride ever.
This could be the shittest roller coaster experience ever, but no one will ever know because those who ride have silent lips.
Very scary, although that might be the case i dont think you can stop people doing what they want to. On that basis something like this will happen in the future unless their is an outcry of opinion against it. My own thoughts are that you should let people do what they want unless you can find a detrimental connection between their actions and your life experiences.
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
If a lethal injection is done wrong, which it is more than 60% (from what i heard in a documentary) it can cause the victim an incredible amount of pain, and since one of the chemicals they use in the injection is a paralyzing agent, they have no way of letting their pain out via scream.
Hypoxia is humane and can almost be euphoric in some situations.
Hippocratic oath leads to unskilled administration of the drugs + dosage knowledge is based on what is required for surgical use + paralysis agent preventing inmates from showing obvious signs of pain + massive amounts of adrenaline in some inmates blood may affect how the drug works for them + other obvious complications.....
I'm not completely against the death penalty as a concept, but with how it is right now, it's kind of ridiculous. I mean, for example, Veterinarians are advised to not use a paralysis agent, specifically so they can see if the animal is feeling pain during euthanasia.....
While anyone on death row has done some terrible shit, killing them in a less humane way than we kill animals is despicable.
On June 21 2011 09:53 holy_war wrote: Someone should build this in Roller Coaster Tycoon
I did something like it. They didn't die. Nobody would go on it though, and everyone that did absolutely hated it.
On June 21 2011 08:57 travis wrote: This seems like an interesting idea but I would want to be 100% sure it actually kills everyone who rides it.
Like adding a shotgun at the end of the ride that fires at point blank range into the head?
I would prefer the Cobain method myself. Fast, cheap, effective...
In the meantime I have to placate myself with black humor.
If you're gonna do that then you don't even have to finish building the track. Everyone will be unconscious so there's no point in finishing the ride. Just put a guillotine blade at the 2nd loop to lop everyone's heads off
On June 21 2011 09:01 Rembot wrote: This seems like it would be a pretty cost effective method of execution once built. I can see it getting worked into plea deals for horrible crimes. "My client pleads guilty to the charges leveled against him on the grounds that he be executed via the kill coaster." You would see more deathrow inmates pleading guilty that way, at least they could go out in style.
Cost effective? This thing is a half kilometer tall, and has to withstand 10 g's of force in most sections of the track. The construction and maintenance costs alone would be ridiculously prohibitive.
Oh yeah, this thing would be ridiculously expensive to build and maintain, I'll grant you that.
Problem is, nowadays criminals will fight their execution with every appeal they can come up with, bogging down the judicial system and creating exorbitant legal costs.
It would be waay cheaper to execute people with this, IF they don't fight it in the courts. It's a big if, but it's also a big coaster
It'd be waay cheaper to use just a regular old axe. No need for any of this fancy constructing business either, so the taxpayers won't have their money wasted. All you need is a chopping block. :V
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
If a lethal injection is done wrong, which it is more than 60% (from what i heard in a documentary) it can cause the victim an incredible amount of pain, and since one of the chemicals they use in the injection is a paralyzing agent, they have no way of letting their pain out via scream.
Hypoxia is humane and can almost be euphoric in some situations.
Not that I want to challenge the great world of documentary films, but.. how would they know if it was done in such a way that the inmate felt pain if he's now dead? Is it blatantly obvious, like the needle never even touched a vain? Or is it closer to "we think he may have felt pain, because of x and y, but really we'll never know"?
On June 21 2011 09:01 Rembot wrote: This seems like it would be a pretty cost effective method of execution once built. I can see it getting worked into plea deals for horrible crimes. "My client pleads guilty to the charges leveled against him on the grounds that he be executed via the kill coaster." You would see more deathrow inmates pleading guilty that way, at least they could go out in style.
Cost effective? This thing is a half kilometer tall, and has to withstand 10 g's of force in most sections of the track. The construction and maintenance costs alone would be ridiculously prohibitive.
Oh yeah, this thing would be ridiculously expensive to build and maintain, I'll grant you that.
Problem is, nowadays criminals will fight their execution with every appeal they can come up with, bogging down the judicial system and creating exorbitant legal costs.
It would be waay cheaper to execute people with this, IF they don't fight it in the courts. It's a big if, but it's also a big coaster
It'd be waay cheaper to use just a regular old axe. No need for any of this fancy constructing business either, so the taxpayers won't have their money wasted. All you need is a chopping block. :V
Who wants to get beheaded by a plain old axe? If it was made of solid gold, then melted down and poured down my neck stump, then I MIGHT be interested. Of course, then the cost starts to get out of hand again...
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
If a lethal injection is done wrong, which it is more than 60% (from what i heard in a documentary) it can cause the victim an incredible amount of pain, and since one of the chemicals they use in the injection is a paralyzing agent, they have no way of letting their pain out via scream.
Hypoxia is humane and can almost be euphoric in some situations.
Not that I want to challenge the great world of documentary films, but.. how would they know if it was done in such a way that the inmate felt pain if he's now dead? Is it blatantly obvious, like the needle never even touched a vain? Or is it closer to "we think he may have felt pain, because of x and y, but really we'll never know"?
You can measure changes in blood chemistry to know that they were conscious and felt pain..... A study took blood samples of the inmates after execution and it showed that many of them weren't under proper anesthesia during the execution, even though they showed no visible signs of pain. And that was because they were paralyzed by a chemical injected into them before the chemical to stop their heart.....
Wow fascinating. I always supported euthanasia (just my opinion, let's not turn this into a debate/flamefest), so this seems pretty cool.
If I really really wanted to die before old-age or something else takes me for whatever reason, I'd probably want it to be fun and exciting. Love roller coasters, so this seems like the thing for me.
On June 21 2011 07:42 BlackJack wrote: Death from lack of oxygen to the brain but the ride only lasts for 3 minutes? That doesn't add up
you can surive 3minutes without breathing because theres still enough oxygen in your blood but at these g forces the blood is will never reach your brain the brain can't last a few seconds without oxygen
How does blood reach the brain during cardiac arrest? Does a person under 10g's of force have worse circulation than someone without a beating heart?
i guess the difference is that during a cardiac arrest there isn't a force pushing all of your brains blood down your feet?
On June 21 2011 08:24 NeonSky wrote: When reading this I immediately thought of all the coasters I made in the game Roller Coaster Tycoon that flew right off the track, but this guy is really taking the idea to new heights.
Quite literally, you only were let to take a roller coaster to about 300 feet into the sky in the game
On topic, I think it would be a very painful death, i wouldn't like it. I'd rather jump off an airplane, but i like this world too much ^^
Overall, i don't think it's a bad idea, but i'd rather have it be used for death penalty than for assisted suicide, since guilty convicts would get a peculiar punishment. It would be fun in my wicked fantasy where the craziest ideas are the most common.
A main point that seems to be missed is that this is seemingly an attempt to change opinion of euthanasia. The idea that this could be considered in that realm is inherently somewhat counterintuitive. Euthanasia( at least in traditional cases in the US) happens when people are in a condition of inhumane suffering that will not improve and most likely will become worse. This honestly is somewhat a mockery of the idea. Many of you I am sure have seen either "Kevorkian" or "You don't know Jack". This is a man who stood up for the belief so strong that he purposefully put himself in the public eye for the issue, to a fault I would say since he felt he needed to go to jail.
To execute people as many posts state this could be practical, ignoring the somewhat ridiculous nature of the idea itself, but euthanasia is a misappropriated classification for such an invention/idea.
On June 21 2011 07:26 Voltaire wrote: It will never be built.
How very profound and insightful.
Obviously it will never be built. But the fact that someone took the time/effort/money to simply come up with and design this, says something of our society.
No. It only says something about this individual who does his utmost to create attention for himself by using "bad words" like euthanasia to "advertise" his project. Yet another idiot on an attention grabbing scheme. Its never going to be constructed, its never going to work and a gun to your head (or a few bottles of wine drunk fast enough, or drinking lots of water without going to the toilet, or ...) is much cheaper. The attention he gets here is not a good thing.
Wisdom is the skill to know when NOT to do a thing and it is severely lacking in our societies. This is the case for the guy who planned it and the OP for spreading it.
First of all, looking at the degrees and angles of the coaster, it seems highly impossible that a cart (what you sit on a coaster) can survive the extreme turns without even flipping off the track.
Basically if you do some math, the coaster that he listed in the diagram is impossible to build din the first place.
Even if he can build it, there will be a low weight limit on the ride. You can't possible survive the uphill on that speed he listed, with those angles, if you are probably more than one hundred and... seventy? pounds.
On June 21 2011 07:35 Megaliskuu wrote: Is it weird that the first thing I thougth when I saw the video is that the guy looked like a younger White_ra?
DUDE I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO SAY THAT
lmao, FIRST thing that popped into my head no lies.
Maybe it's white-ra's bro who will put you on it if you don't say GG to him : P
You guys seem to be missing the point. The artist knew it would never be built, and this isn't an 'engineering project' so much as a piece of art, or possibly a collision of the two. A piece of art is meant to be thought provoking. Is Euthanization totally wrong? Would it be 'fun' to ride an extremely long roller coaster that gradually (or rapidly) gets more intense and (probably peacefully) black out before dying of oxygen loss?
The real issue here isn't the method, though, it's our society's acceptance or rejection of the individual's option to pursue euthanasia. Only, in our world, society's tracks don't lead to graceful deaths with dignity and excitement, they lead to the gradual drops of the individual heart and soul and rapidly rising costs in time and money to manage non-functional peoples' lives. At least, that's how I perceive the artist's message.
Ironic how the person who said it will never be built has a username Voltaire... anyways interesting way to die, but i don't really see old people using this as a method, it's easier to go to the swiss and die in a nice spa.
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
If a lethal injection is done wrong, which it is more than 60% (from what i heard in a documentary) it can cause the victim an incredible amount of pain, and since one of the chemicals they use in the injection is a paralyzing agent, they have no way of letting their pain out via scream.
Hypoxia is humane and can almost be euphoric in some situations.
Not that I want to challenge the great world of documentary films, but.. how would they know if it was done in such a way that the inmate felt pain if he's now dead? Is it blatantly obvious, like the needle never even touched a vain? Or is it closer to "we think he may have felt pain, because of x and y, but really we'll never know"?
There's also studies done where a criminal agreed to do a prearranged signal if he was feeling pain.
Honestly, if I were diagnosed with some terminal illness and was told, with high certainty, that I had only 6 months to live, I could see this contraption being useful.
I would come up with a bucket list, and do as many things as possible on that list. Then, before I die, I would have a nice final talk with friends and family, and then get on that roller coaster. It's much more exciting than closing your eyes for the last time on a hospital bed.
I don't really understand the artist's message here. The way I see it, typically when one chooses suicide, they undergo a emotionally, and maybe even physically painful process. The thought experiment of using a roller coaster for suicide would be to pass away while happy and excited instead. The last bit of meaning in that person's life would simply be pleasure rather than achievement. To me, that theme is quite generic, shallow, and has been done already. Am I missing anything here?
On June 21 2011 07:36 meegrean wrote: Might be a more humane way to execute criminals?
Lethal injection is pretty humane. They feel nothing, I'm pretty sure. Whereas G-LOC and other associated events aren't very pleasant as they are kicking in before death. It'd be closer to drowning every criminal on death row than it would be a peaceful death, at least relative to the injection.
If a lethal injection is done wrong, which it is more than 60% (from what i heard in a documentary) it can cause the victim an incredible amount of pain, and since one of the chemicals they use in the injection is a paralyzing agent, they have no way of letting their pain out via scream.
Hypoxia is humane and can almost be euphoric in some situations.
Not that I want to challenge the great world of documentary films, but.. how would they know if it was done in such a way that the inmate felt pain if he's now dead? Is it blatantly obvious, like the needle never even touched a vain? Or is it closer to "we think he may have felt pain, because of x and y, but really we'll never know"?
Like the people doing it had no idea what they were doing because they wern't real doctors, they were more like a doctors aid type of thing and would inject intramuscular
Side story 1: At Magic Mountain in California they have a ride called the Goliath that has a huuuuuge drop, apparently 35% (99% sure this is false as thats WAY to high of a ratio that they wouldnt do something about it) of people experience a minor black out on that ride because of the G force coming out of the drop...I like to think myself a fit and awesome person, but i had a moment of blackoutyness...
Side story 2: Looking at the drawing I dont know that you would need that many loops to actually kill you. Most roller coasters have a tear drop shaped loop, not a circle as the gforces exerted in a circle loop are to intense for most people.
Otherwise, im totally going to be first in line, i love roller coasters
On June 21 2011 08:24 NeonSky wrote: When reading this I immediately thought of all the coasters I made in the game Roller Coaster Tycoon that flew right off the track, but this guy is really taking the idea to new heights.
Quite literally, you only were let to take a roller coaster to about 300 feet into the sky in the game
Yea. You could raise the land as high as possible, then build the coaster as high as possible above the land, and then use those speed-up parts of track to get it to maximum speed before falling down, then drop it down to the very bottom of the map, far underground, and then try the loop.
I did that one time when I was curious (I had to sell every ride in a big park to get enough cash for it). I remember it was some crazy g-forces (well above 10), but nobody died from it -_-
EPT![[image loading]](http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/Euthanasia_Coaster_[1200].jpg)
![[image loading]](http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/Euthanasia_Coaster_detail2_[1200].jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lNmE8.png)
