BkRev: Humphry's Final Exit

Derek Humphry, Final Exit: The practicalities of self-deliverance and assisted suicide for the dying, New York, Delta (Random House), 2002, 220 pages

The title of this book is accurate. The book is about killing yourself if faced with a terminal, painful disease. The book is a guide to the many details that need attention, from making sure your death does not inadvertently involve loved ones in a criminal investigation, to wearing a baseball cap so that the bill of the cap will keep the plastic bag, which is over your head, from being drawn into your mouth with each inhalation.

The author makes sure the reader is suitable for suicide. Someone who is merely depressed, for example, should seek counseling not suicide. Once the reader determines that he is qualified for suicide, he can then follow the detailed guidelines for one of the options available. For instance, if one's own physician will not help by prescribing drugs, then the terminally ill person can purchase sedatives, a plastic bag, and other equipment. The author provides a checklist.

The main point of the book is that one must be prepared for a suicide that is both effective and least unpleasant as possible under the circumstances.

The author assumes the reader has no knowledge of chemistry and no experience with any of the ethical and legal issues involved. However, readers can skim parts of the short book. Not all parts apply to all readers, but they are all worth at least a quick reading. At each subject change, the author usually provides a guide to the reader, explaining each section's appropriateness for some readers but not for other readers.

For several decades, Derek Humphry, the author, worked as a journalist in England and in the USA. He helped found and manage euthanasia organizations. At 83, he now lives in Oregon, the first state in the USA to legalize suicide for terminally ill individuals. His books, which initially mainstream publishers would not accept, have been commercial successes. He has assisted three suicides, in the cautious manner he describes and recommends.

The chapters are many and short. The titles are largely self-explanatory and arc from making the decision to end one's life if medically doomed, to rejecting methods that are too risky, and then to the "final act." A few chapter titles are:

Ch. 1: The Most Difficult Decision

Ch. 2: Shopping for the Right Doctor

Ch. 3: Beware of the Law

Ch. 4: The Hospice Option

Ch. 11: Who Shall Know?

Ch. 16: Letters to Be Written

Ch. 20: Storing Drugs

Ch. 22: Self-Deliverance Using a Plastic Bag

Ch. 23: A Speedier Way: Inert Gases

Ch. 24: The Checklist

Ch. 25: The Final Act

Throughout these and other chapters, the author writes clearly and succinctly, with only enough repetition to make sure readers do not miss key points.

I recommend a casual reading of this book now, and then a second, close reading if and when the appropriate time comes to apply it. I hope that need never comes for you or for me. I hope to fully pursue my highest values in life for as long as I can, and then die naturally.

Best approach to disputes in the Objectivist movement?

I have been a student of Objectivism, and a member of the Objectivist movement, for 50 years. I have seen conflicts arise and fade. I am learning that there is a proper procedure for outside individuals—those who are not directly involved—to approach these conflicts. Part of that procedure consists of asking and answering these questions: 

(1) Exactly what is the type of conflict? Is it philosophical, personal, something else, or a combination?

(2) Exactly what is the issue in dispute? If there are several issues, in what order should I resolve them?

(3) Is all the evidence available that I need in order to make a decision about which side, if either, to support?

(4) If any, what is my stake in this conflict? How does it affect my pursuit of my lifetime philosophical and personal values?

(5) Do I need to make a decision now or at any time? If so, why?

(6) If I do decide to investigate a dispute and if I uncover enough information to form a judgment, should I take a stand (which entails time and effort to formulate, present and defend), either in private or in public?

The main lesson I have learned is to wait until I can answer such questions with confidence. A secondary lesson is that Objectivism (which is a fixed set of ideas) remains unchanged no matter what happens in the Objectivist movement. (For my understanding of "movement," see aristotleadventure.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-is-movement.html )

What other approach would you suggest?

Burgess Laughlin

Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, here

P. S. — Thank you to Pooja Gupta for suggesting Question 6. Thank you to Rohin Gupta for reminding me to make this available on the internet and not merely on Facebook (published as a note three years ago).

Is reading the news helpful or harmful?

Is reading the news helpful or harmful? This issue is important to me for several reasons. First, I am monitoring my heart rate because I have tachycardia/arrhythmia, racing and irregular heart beat. I take two medications to keep my heart rate low. Reading the news makes my heart beat faster, much faster. Reading the news cancels the effect of the two medications. For me, that illustrates the mind-body power of reading the news.

When I was younger, I was emotionally repressed, but now, at 68, my emotions—which are responses to seeing my values threatened or supported—flow freely. When I read news of a U. S. diplomat being murdered in another country, I do not merely note that fact. I see the victim suffering. I see the murderers gloating. I feel anger at the murderers and at those who allowed the murder to happen. I feel fear for the future, for me, and for my friends. Those powerful feelings have physical effects.

Second, reading the news is intellectually disruptive. It fractures my thinking about my current project. After reading the news, I must take the time to calm down emotionally, and I must reset my focus on my current project. This effort to reset is akin to the struggle fiction writers have after an interruption in their work, when they need to get back "into the story."

Third, reading the news even affects my dreams and therefore the quality of sleep. When I read the news, my dreams are stressful, anxious, and threatening. About a week ago, I stopped reading the news. My dreams have become more peaceful.

Understanding the effects of "reading the news" requires a clear grasp of what is usually meant by that term. First, what is "news"?

NEWS. "News" is a certain kind of information; it is information about past or current events; it is information that someone else, a reporter of the news, thinks (1) I have not heard before, and thinks (2) I will find it to be intriguing enough to set aside what I am doing and follow. News is information that a reporter—a fellow employee, an announcer at a sports event, or a newspaper journalist—shapes for a particular purpose and audience of his choosing.

WHAT "READING THE NEWS" DOES NOT MEAN. "Reading the news" does not mean simply reading (or listening) to acquire information. Reading a 500-page scholarly text on the decline of the Roman Empire is not "reading the news," even though the information in the book may be new to me. When I select and read such a book, I take the initiative to define my specific purpose, buy the book, develop a reading schedule, think about what I am reading, and take notes.

WHAT "READING THE NEWS" MEANS. "Reading the news" typically refers to an individual immersing himself in a stream of reports. An hourly, five-minute news segment on radio is an example. For five minutes I will hear a stream of reports about events that the reporter thinks are important for his audience. The reports are about dissimilar events (a bombing in Baghdad, a lottery prize going unclaimed, and the closing of a bridge for repairs). The reports usually are about events that are out of the control of the reader, either because they have already happened or because he lacks the power to change them. The reports are typically sketchy and provisional, subject to revision.

INTEGRATION IS KEY. The most fundamental factor distinguishing "reading the news" (in the meaning used here) and investigation is integration. In an investigation the investigator has a particular purpose that integrates his actions, the information he gains, and the information he already has. Jumping into a stream of news is an act of non-integration. "Being informed" is not a specific purpose. One can "be informed" about a topic, such as the state of one's culture, by investigating the subject once or occasionally—and then thinking in principles.

Examining a news stream does make sense for some individuals. An editorial cartoonist might frequently scan a news stream for subjects for his daily cartoon. A professional weblog writer might daily peruse a news stream looking for items suitable for principled commentary.  These individuals have a delimited purpose. They are investigating rather than drifting with the stream.

CONCLUSION. For me, the state of mind that results from "reading the news" is unpleasant emotionally, destructive cognitively, and damaging physically. That is why I have stopped "reading the news" in any form—print, internet, radio, or TV. I no longer look at my Facebook newsfeed, the quintessential example of a news stream. Instead, for particular reasons at particular times, I do visit individual Friend pages.

So far, refusing to "read the news" has brought a greater sense of peace, greater power of concentration, and greater awareness of my immediate surroundings.

Burgess Laughlin

Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, described at reasonversusmysticism.com/

P.S. — I began my current experiment in shunning news streams after reading Rolf Dobelli, "News is bad for you—and giving up reading it will make you happier," The Guardian, April 12, 2013, linked at the end. The article has flaws. It is an edited translation of a German newspaper column. Accordingly it lacks citations; and more examples would have made some points clearer. His main theme is accurate: purposeful investigation seeking specific information is necessary for success in life, but plunging, without a specific purpose, into a news stream created by someone else can be destructive.

guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

Attracting an audience by implying their rationality or irrationality

Through various means, and over the long-term, a writer attracts a particular audience for his writings. Content is one means of drawing readers in. A writer who writes about chess will, all other factors being equal, build an audience of individuals interested in chess. Style is another factor. A writer who writes clearly and integrates his points thoroughly will tend to acquire an audience of clear thinkers.

Another element of style is the writer's treatment of each link in the chain of fact, value, emotion, and action. Rational readers can learn a fact in the text they are reading. When they connect that fact to a value they hold, they will automatically experience an emotion. If the value is a high one, and the circumstances are appropriate, readers will take action. For example, if a writer says, "Smith Company has published my new book, Preventing Dental Problems," then those readers who respect the writer's knowledge and are concerned about their dental health will feel hopeful about their future dental health and either investigate the book further or take direct action to purchase it. The writer has stated a fact, perhaps including expected benefits of knowing that fact; readers connect that fact to their own values, experience an emotion, and take action.

EXAMPLES. Consider two cases, one at each end of a style spectrum. The first is an announcement published in the "Objectivist Calendar" column of The Objectivist Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January, 1962), p. 4. It says:

The next New York series of "Basic Principles of Objectivism" will be given at the Hotel Roosevelt, 45 St. & Madison Ave., at 7:30 P.M., on twenty consecutive Tuesday evenings, beginning February 13. Registration is now open.

This first case presents facts, and it relies on rational readers to recognize the value. (In a longer announcement, and in a different, more general publication, a rational writer might have identified the benefits of attending, but would still let readers make the evaluation and the decision to act.)

The second case is a composite of insulting announcements I have seen recently:

Gladys Grumbly, the most awesome speaker of the day, will be talking about introspection at the Wilshire Community Center on February 12 at 8 pm. You will love her presentation! You owe it to yourself to go! Sign up now! Don't delay and don't miss this absolutely fantastic opportunity!!! Click on the name below and be certain to Like this page now!!!

This second case insults rational readers. It presents a clichéd and "floating" evaluation ("Awesome"? In what way does it create a sense of awe? In whom? So what?). Further, the second announcement tells rational readers what emotional response, "love," they will feel and further insults rational readers by saying that they "owe" it to themselves to attend, not allowing readers to connect the announcement to their own individual hierarchy of values. Lastly, the announcement degrades its readers by commanding action (using the imperative mood), not merely giving instructions for implementation.

RESULTS. The writer in the first case is writing objectively, that is, writing about facts and allowing rational readers, his only intended audience, to evaluate those facts and take action. The writer in the second case is assuming his robotic readers must be pushed into evaluating, feeling, and taking action.

The writer of the second case will eventually lose rational readers—those who want to evaluate, feel, and take action at their own initiative and in the context of their own personal values. The readers who accept such abuse and remain the writer's followers will tend to be automatons. The writer may then wonder why he has such a seemingly passive and unintelligent audience.

Over the long-term, the writer creates his audience through a process similar to natural selection: Assume readers are irrational, write accordingly, and the rational ones will go away; or assume readers are rational, write accordingly, and they will continue to pay attention to one's writings as the years go by.

Burgess Laughlin

Author of The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, here

A Personal Index for Understanding Objectivism

Leonard Peikoff, Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand's Philosophy, editor Michael S. Berliner, New York, New American Library, 2012, 383 pages.

In 1983, philosopher Leonard Peikoff, the foremost student of Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, presented eleven lectures on "distinguishing the right and the wrong methods for trying to understand philosophy in general and for understanding and validating Objectivism in particular." (Back cover) Michael Berliner, "cochairman of the Board of Directors of the Ayn Rand Institute and senior advisor to the Ayn Rand Archives," has undertaken the enormous labor of editing and publishing the lectures. Berliner has produced a book that flows smoothly while clearly conveying its difficult subject matter. The book is a treasure chest of Dr. Peikoff's insights not only into the philosophy of Ayn Rand but also into methods of thinking philosophically.

The book's table of contents identifies the broad subject of each chapter, for example, Chapter Six, "Objectivism Versus the Intrinsic and Subjective." Unfortunately, this first printing of Understanding Objectivism has no index to lead readers back to particular topics. For my own purposes, I have compiled an abbreviated and informal list of the topics that intrigued me. This narrow personal index is not a substitute for a full formal index compiled for a broad set of readers. It reflects mainly my interests. I have listed some phrases as natural whole phrases—for example: "rational self-interest" not "self-interest, rational." The reader should be cautious, also, because I have not yet double-checked the page references for accuracy. Further, listings of page numbers are not exhaustive. Often, I made note of a topic only after seeing it mentioned once or twice.

Despite these defects in this personal index, some readers may find it helpful. If nothing else, it shows prospective buyers of the book the great range of subjects covered—to the benefit of long-term, serious students of Objectivism.

analytic-synthetic dichotomy, 255. artistic choices, 339. axiom, as a precondition, 165.

Binswanger, disagreements with as example of rational people differing,  149, 165. blurting out, as one step in thinking process, 194. Brown, Fredric, as Peikoff's favorite science-fiction writer, 339.

career, choosing, 329-331. cause and effect, 153. chewing, 24, 304-305; purpose of philosophical, 268. circularity, good and bad types of, 280. cognitive necessity, as a guide, 102. commonsense, 221 and 222. compartmentalization, 229 and 274. consciousness, 270. context, 146, 282; defined, 186.

corollary, 151-152. crow epistemology, 198 and 328.

deduction, 63. definitions, 50-58; not the same as the entity defined, 52; depend on one's purpose, 199; purpose of, 215. Descartes, 151. desert island ethics, 189. determinism, vs. indeterminism, 255-256; in rationalism, 220. Devil's advocate, 81. dishonesty vs. dependence, 363-364. dogmatism, 187.

eclecticism, 264. egalitarianism, 354. emotion, being aware of to avoid distorting thinking, 200. emotionalism, righteous, 179. empiricism, 147, 308, 310, 311; symptoms of, 134. ethics, scope of, 135. explicit vs. implicit, 362-363.

fatigue, effects on consciousness, 200. floating abstractions, 211. friends, choosing, 335.

genius, 302; as a requirement for formulating philosophical fundamentals, 205. gun control, 137.

happiness, 104. hierarchical structure, principle of, 138, 145, 157, 222. honesty, 247 and 277; evaluating a movement's followers' vs. leaders', 366. Hume, as a concrete-bound philosopher, 240.

idealism, philosophical, 151 and 213. induction, 63, 286; and deduction, 141; no particular order for performing, 235; problem of , 276. intrinsicism, 245; and self-evidence, 183-184, 190; as Rand's coined term, 175. intrinsicist "Objectivism," 186, 187. irrationalism, 264-265.

James, William, 249. judging others, 344-357.

Kant, as a mixture of bad philosophies, 234, and 308-310.

law of identity, 146 and 196. liberty, 140. lying, 71.

mathematics, 218-219. metaphysics, of epistemology, 201-202. mind, 270. mind/body dichotomy, as root of many philosophcal errors, 25. mirroring reality, fallacy of, 235, 236, 237, and 310. monism, 224. moralizers, 341-342. motherhood, 382. mysticism, 154, 155, 308; defined and related by intrinsicism, 180-181; moving from rationalism to, 232.

Objectivist, serious, 32. objectivity, validating the concept of, 20; essence of, 193 and 194. Occam's Razor, 143. options, 313; in life, 187-188. oscillating between definitions and entities, method of, 54 and 66. outline for writing, not dictated by reality, 235.

partner in life, benefits of having, 381. Peikoff's own experiences with rationalism and other issues, 263, 326, 327, 340, 375 (the movie E.T.), 377, 379, and 381. philosophy, attacks on, 2; meaning of, 17; method for making real, 23, 100, and 101; as an ally in keeping us sane, 382; structured as an X, 161; as a system, 101 and 167. Plato, 185, 310; as an intrinsicist, 189. pluralism, 257. polemics, defined, as a symptom of rationalism, 238, and 242-244. polylogism, 259-260. pragmatism, 249-250, 311. principle, living on, 92-93. proof, 63; as pointing, 64. psycho-epistemology, 359. psychologizing, 361.

Rand, interested in others' reactions to her, 320. rationalism, 54, 59, 147, 308-310; testing oneself to detect, 229; and repression, 59, 322, and 323. rational self-interest, 314. Rawls, John, 354. reason, 154-155. recreation, 336. reduction, 58 and 306. religion as intrinsicism, 189. rights, 138 and 203. Roark as a fictional character combining philosophical and concrete optional characteristics, 320. Russell, Bertrand, as an ex. empiricist, 240.

sanction, 375-376. self-criticism, improper, 191-192. self-evidence, 145, 183, 213 and 283; only at perceptual level, 190-191; improper claims of, 64; as axioms, 81. selfishness, argument for, 164. skyscrapers, loving as optional, 334; analogy for cognitive hierarchy, 158 and 222. Sophists, 247. soul, 270. soulmate, requirement for, 335. spiral theory of gaining knowledge, 31, 101, 136, 198, and 281; exercise for, 167. stupidity, as self-made, 360; Peikoff's definition, 192. symbolic logic, 241. synthesis, as integration, 101. system building, 254.

Tertullian, 265. test of a teacher as cognitive empathy, 357. test of honesty, 357. thinking, structured, 136. tout, living one's life as a, 337. tragic sense of life, 343. trichotomy, 175 and 308; of objectivity, subjectivity, and intrinsicism, 202. 

understanding, 15 and 64; method for, 41; summary of method for, 62; requirements for, 63; elements of, 65.

workaholic, 336. writing and emotions, 237.

Burgess Laughlin

Author, The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, here

BkRev: The Permanent Portfolio

Craig Rowland and J. M. Lawson, The Permanent Portfolio: Harry Browne's Long-Term Investment Strategy, Hoboken (New Jersey), John Wiley & Sons, 2012, 330 pages.

In an October 2, 2011 post, "The Most Important Books in My Life," for the "Money" category, I saluted Harry Browne's Why the Best-Laid Investment Plans Usually Go Wrong: How You Can Find Safety and Profit in an Uncertain World, written in 1987.

I can now suggest another book, published in 2012, as superior: Rowland and Larson's The Permanent Portfolio: Harry Browne's Long-Term Investment Strategy, available on Amazon here. Rowland and Larson work from Browne's time-tested principles, explain them clearly, and show investors (at various levels from beginner to advanced, from small to large) how to implement those principles by buying particular investments from a variety of sources. My Amazon review is here.

The essence of the "permanent portfolio" idea is that our economic and political world is uncertain and volatile, and the best way to protect and modestly grow the assets earned through one's career is to invest in a way that takes advantage of that very unpredictability and volatility. There are four asset classes—stocks in productive companies, gold, bonds, and cash. Each initially takes up 25% of the portfolio. Usually some of the four classes are rising as others are falling. If one of the four 25% sectors rises beyond its band (35% of the whole), then, in the annual review, the investor sells the high performer and places the captured profits into the lowest sectors of the portfolio. (Meanwhile the portfolio continues to grow from reinvested dividends, capital gains distributions, and interest payments.) Over the long-term, the average rate of return has been about 8-9%, that is, about 5-6% above the inflation rate.

After the initial learning period, maintaining the portfolio requires little time and effort—perhaps an hour per year. I know from experience that this approach works. The portfolio grows (I seek 5% above the inflation rate), but with safety and with giving me a sense of peace no matter what the headlines of the day are screaming.

Sentence by sentence, the book is easy to understand. That does not mean the book is a quick read. I read one chapter—or less—each day. The authors present their material in an organized way and always give readers "road signs" for efficient reading. For example, "Level 1" readers (who are beginning investors, or do not want to be bothered with a lot of complexity, or have small initial portfolios) can concentrate on the Level 1 discussions and skim (or skip) the higher level discussions of each investment type. I would say I thoroughly read about half the book (taking a lot of notes), skimmed a fourth, and skipped a fourth.

Here is my salute to this book: Even though I have been following Browne's basic principles for about 40 years, after reading this book I have made some adjustments to my portfolio—adjustments which will probably improve my portfolio's performance a little and make it even more stable over the long-term.

To readers who want to protect the wealth they have earned from their careers, who seek modest growth, and who desire peace of mind in a volatile economy, I suggest reading the book.

Burgess Laughlin

Author, The Power and the Glory: The Key Ideas and Crusading Lives of Eight Debaters of Reason vs. Faith, here