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comment by StephenBuckley
StephenBuckley  ·  4324 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Evolution and Suicide

Right. I finished the article before posting. I should clarify that I didn't mean you, I meant most of the evolutionary scientists I've read.

That said, I think the only thing I found new or interesting in the post was the quote about chimps not jumping. Most of the examples for suicide have stark differences from human suicide, since I'd say the overwhelming majority of those 51,401 don't commit suicide to save everyone else from a threat. And the conclusion that "suicide itself is not adaptive; it seems to be a last resort effort for us to reach out for help" is somewhat less than shocking.





theadvancedapes  ·  4324 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Perhaps it is not shocking. But I think it is interesting that our current understanding does not support the idea that higher rates of male suicide than female suicide are not inevitable. And furthermore, it is useful to social scientists to understand that suicide itself has not been selected for. Both of these insights can help our society realize that we can bring the suicide rate down by creating the right cultural environment and institutions to deal with depression.