Ok, it’s time for some serious discussion. I’m curious about everypony’s view on the subject of blood drives and organ donation. This is my opinion; Humans are mortal. We are not Gods. More in depth reasoning is required here. The whole purpose of giving blood or organs is to prolong the life of another. While in theory this is nothing but good, under closer examination it doesn’t seem right to me. (I’m going to bring in a bit of a religious touch to this theory) The human body was designed by God. (Or whatever deity you please) And it was designed rather well. Pain and discomfort are messages that your body sends you, saying “Stop! That is bad!” If you ever have participated in a blood drive, you know the feelings of dizziness, weakness, and general discomfort that drawing blood causes. (Not to mention the pain). This suggests that it was not within God’s design for us to lose blood in any way. Now organ donation… An easy example as to why I don’t like this… In many cases, if a person marked as an organ donor dies, and they have an undamaged organ that is needed by someone at the moment, a common practice is to hook up the deceased donor to a machine that keeps the donor’s body ALIVE. Just a bit freaky to me. As a final comment, my main reasoning behind my dislike of blood and organ donation is the fact of our mortality. We are all destined to die, and we are not Gods. We do not have the right to take life and death into our own hands. Discussion? (Disclaimer: No, I do not WANT people to die, and yes, if a family member or dear friend was once saved by such donation I am happy for you and or them.)
I like your view, but I disagree with it. See I look at it this way: Medicine is the practice of extending lives, and a part of that requires blood for surgery. In my eyes when a person donates an organ upon death, or while alive, it's human kindness at it's best. Kind of their way of saying "I can't use this anymore, but you can." Personally I try to donate blood whenever I can and plan to be a heart donor. (I'm a distance runner, so the guy getting my heart upon my death will be like "WOAH WTF?!") Anyway, the point is, that's my view, disagree with it if you want, I just want to hear other people's views. That's the point of this thread :3
This is a very good point. (You too Otirrob) And I definitely respect your views. I really like the point about prolonging life through exercising. In my theory’s defense though, (And this is still looking at it from the point of view “God created us, and thought of everything when he did it”) Exercise, eating well, and generally good, healthy, habits were in practice as long as human existence was established. Removing working hearts, lungs, and gallons of blood, and transferring them to another human? That’s pretty recent, and more of a “I’m going to live twice as long now!”, then a “Yay! I prolonged my life by a month by eating nothing but carrots!” (I still respect your opinions and views, and would love to hear more!)
FunFact: Heart transplants usually only last 2-3 years if not kept healthy, if it is though the person will continue to live for as long as they normally would. This is one of the main reasons I run distance (I try to run about 30+ miles a week), I want to give someone who receives my heart longer to live. Also, it'll keep me alive a lot longer because it's one of the healthiest things you can do for your body. Also it's fun as all hell. I mostly run for fun. Have a quote: "If your world is grey, open a box of crayons"
Lets say I'm 30. I'm gunna die. I get a new heart. I live to 60 like I NORMALLY WOULD. *Just lived twice as long
I mean that in the context of heart injury, not disease. Otherwise it would be doubling life expectancy.
I'm as thin as a twig (Only 97 pounds). At my age, that is certainly unhealthy. I excercise regularly, eat healthily, but I don't gain any muscular mass or weight in general. Rather than dwell on what's happening, I'd just rather go on living my life instead of taking a portion of someone's whatever organ that'll make me healthier. I'd rather me die than have someone else have to give me a portion of a liver to save my hide. I'd die in pain, than make someone else go through it, anyways. Certain things are tolerable. But I'd never take someone's heart, should I need one. It was theirs, not mine. I don't want someone else to be a part of me, they're too good for that. Again, I'd rather die of Heart Disease or Kidney Failure than make someone else's life miserable, let alone take one. It's people's decision whether or not to, and unless it's something minor, I'll never take an organ from someone else, ever. Not even a blood transfusion, willingly taken. Having someone else's blood run through my veins just because I got Shot and lost a lot of blood... that's not right, to me. I'm just talking about me, though. Everyone else can do whatever they want. Me... I'd prefer to die of my own mistakes.
On the subject of darkness. Mainly poetry, but any other forms of literature as well. Has anypony else noticed the fantastic amounts of dark poetry, stories, and literature? Even in MLP. Have you noticed a lot of dark fanfics? I mean... CUPCAKES!!! But Cupcakes is popular isn't it? And so much poetry deals with death, sorrow, and pain. Lets all post our reflections on what this says about the nature of man. My belief? Dark literature fufills two human desires. The first is to escape from it. Writing down and sharing sorrows, fears, and pain, (Even in a coded form) helps people to move on, or to accept. The second is to experience it. I have never experienced what I'm sure is TRUE pain and suffering, and yet I find myself writing about it, or reading about it. Why? Is this some natural curiosity? Some primal desire to know such pain? Or something else entirely? Thoughts?
I wouldn't know about cupcakes or any other so called "horror stories" that have been getting a lot of attention, I can't view them for some reason. As for dark literature I have to take in your point to a certain degree, there are some things that should never be written.
I have been thinking of that myself. I think why we like violence is connected to hunter's instinct, which is why I hypothesize ponies don't have this urge. As for horror... I don't know, but I think being scared or shocked by something triggers some old survival instincts and a adrenaline rush. Take Cupcakes for example, where my favorite pony get brutally murdered, by all logical reasons I should not like that. However, my sympathy for Dash works in the favor of the story as I feel the horror she must be going through on a more personal level. As this cause actual fear in me my body produce adrenaline which gives me a thrill, which is adictive. Thankfully this is just a fanfic, nothing in it is canon. One of the reasons I am able to enjoy it is that I know Pinkie Pie is not actually like that, which makes me appriciate her normal persona more. I also realized that why Rainbow was picked as a victim was that in the show, Dash seem to be Pinkie's best friend, I began to see an emotional connection between the characters where I did not before. Which led me to become a fan of the PinkieDash shipping .
I like your adrenaline theory, Prince. It's kind of like body builders that get adicted to lactic acid. I also love your analysis on RD and Pinkies relationship... But I'm still never gunna join in that shipping/OTP stuff...
You use the words "So far" and then finished it with an epic "..." So I thought you were foreshadowing something epic to come. Sorry for asuming the best of you.
