tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315579333067639553.post2441468847326890857..comments2023-09-16T04:04:05.052-05:00Comments on Mad Engineering: The Suicide BeltProfessor Preposteroushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833576109973350556noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315579333067639553.post-15669334466714748672008-09-24T12:45:00.000-05:002008-09-24T12:45:00.000-05:00The data was supposedly compiled by the World Heal...The data was supposedly compiled by the World Health Organization, and probably should have had more categories. France's rate of 18 and Belgium's rate of 18.9 are both far lower than any country in the former Soviet category.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, the WHO took down the page where they describe in detail about their data. I'm going to assume that they ARE clouding the water by including euthanasia in the suicide rate.<BR/><BR/>I found one better, more detailed map, but it was from a site whose biases I felt were excessive, since they blamed the high rates on "feminism." Not going to trust that.<BR/><BR/>Glad to have you point out the discrepancies and errors.Professor Preposteroushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07833576109973350556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315579333067639553.post-80343280637916451832008-09-23T16:15:00.000-05:002008-09-23T16:15:00.000-05:00I would guess that the fact that it's much easier ...I would guess that the fact that it's much easier to die anyway in South America has at least as much to do with their lower suicide rates as their religiosity.<BR/>Is euthanasia included in these numbers? Because the fact that that's legal in much of Europe may also account for a lot.<BR/><BR/>A lack of prohibition against suicide won't stop anyone, by the way. Japan has higher suicide rates because the culture encourages guilt complexes (complices?) and Japanese society comes down *very* hard on people who don't toe the line, not because suicide isn't illegal (it was legalised in most of the world over the course of the 20th century too).<BR/><BR/>I question the use of only three colors, though. France and Belgium certainly aren't in the same league as Lithuania or Russia. It just makes the map more misleading.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com