Self-Inflicted

<p>In <em>Self-Inflicted</em> Dr. Karl T. Muth advances the argument that suicide should be a choice widely-available that the optimal number of suicides per year is not zero but a number much higher and that suicide is in many ways preferable and superior to so-called and oft-idealized natural death. He further argues physician-assisted suicide is not a tenable compromise between acceptance and prohibition and that policies limiting access to death inadvertently transform allowed suicide into a luxury good unavailable to the masses.</p><p><br></p><p>Muth was part of the unlikely tribe of 2010s technology executives venture capitalists lowercase-L libertarians crypto-nouveau-riche and singularity enthusiasts very excited about radical lifespan extension or technologically-enhanced longevity. Today however Muth is instead focused on quality over quantity; specifically the best life possible within a known lifespan and ending on a planned date with little pain and few regrets. These are the arguments that changed his mind.</p>