
Euthanasia Coaster - ca98am79
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_Coaster
======
gpcz
I know it's taboo to bring up the Holocaust in Internet discussions, but this
coaster and the verbiage that the Wikipedia article uses ("unloading of
corpses" in particular) creeps me out at a level similar to the industrial
processes the Nazis invented to perform mass murder. The coaster would
probably be horrifying to watch, too -- people would scream for the first drop
and the first few inversions, and then you would hear an eerie silence.

~~~
logfromblammo
The thing I found to be most offensive is that it does 24 passengers at a
time. That's really what makes it creepy. It's like they're not even trying to
make your death special. If I'm going to die on the most lethal roller coaster
ever designed, I don't want the last thing I see to be the backs of 22
screaming heads. And do you really need to kill 360 people an hour? Is demand
for suicide really that high? I don't think so. Pull out 23 of those seats and
put in a few video cameras. And play me Ride of the Valkyries or something on
the way down so I can go out feeling like a badass.

And don't "unload" me. You build a massive corpse ejector into that train that
launches my body through the air across the people waiting in line onto a
giant trampoline over a body funnel. I'll roll right into the plastic souvenir
coffin, which my family can purchase at the photo booth along with the final
video for $49.99, with free drink refills included for the duration of their
stay at the park.

~~~
shawkinaw
Wow where do I start with this? I LOLed at least 3 times reading this, but the
idea that _this is at a theme park with other rides_ is probably the best
part.

~~~
DanBC
They're still working on the log-flume of doom.

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earljwagner
Trey Brackish: "I'm standing here at Thrill World where this roller coaster
continues taking the lives of innocent people. Earlier today we spoke with
John Oakfellow of the Red Cross."

John Oakfellow: "We're doing what we can, but the casualties continue to
mount."

Mr. Show "The Devastator"
[http://youtu.be/p5Oi57fqdU0](http://youtu.be/p5Oi57fqdU0)

~~~
zerohm
+1 for sending me down a Mr. Show youtube hole.

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dkhenry
After seeing a close friend die slowly over three weeks from stage 4 ovarian
cancer. I think this would be worlds better then the slow euthanasia by
morphine drip that we currently use.

~~~
jobu
Totally agree. There are so many ways that a person can die a prolonged,
horrible death that is medically sanctioned and supposedly more ethical than
euthanasia.

After watching my father wither away with dementia I've decided to take up
skydiving after I retire (and pack my own parachute). If my mental state
becomes too poor to properly pack the chute I think hitting the ground at 200
mph would be a decent way to go.

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jackschultz
What's with that last sentence of the intro? This is an article about a roller
coaster that kills people, not an argument for or against euthanasia. I come
to this page wanting to read about a death coaster and then I'm thrust into a
debate on whether it is moral to euthanize people.

Also, the source isn't really that solid. It's one sentence in a post on Metro
which, since it looks like it's based in the UK, I don't really know much
about.

If you want to include criticism for something make it a separate section or
something, not a sentence in the introduction.

It looks like this was the revision where that sentence was added in:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Euthanasia_Coaster...](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Euthanasia_Coaster&diff=426076801&oldid=426042569)

~~~
DanBC
Metro is a low quality free tabloid given away. It's found on buses and
trains.

~~~
bshimmin
Published by the same people as the Daily Mail, no less.

------
esquivalience
I'm interested that it's designed by an art student. I'm not sure whether it's
intended as art, but if so I suppose it lies in the dichotomy - horror of
death vs the very functional combination of entertainment and euthanasia.

In that case it would certainly the most interesting piece of 'artistic
research' I've seen.

And the "ultimate" designation is a nice mockery of brand hype!

------
tiku
I'm getting flashbacks to Rollercoaster Tycoon..

~~~
izzydata
Yea, I had coasters way worse than this, but customers only ever complained
that it was awful. You weren't able to kill them with excessive G-forces.

~~~
Agathos
I thought there was a way to fatally catapult them into a neighboring park and
then, because they died there, the game engine would penalize that park for
killing its guests. But I might be thinking of a different amusement park
simulator.

------
marknutter
Somebody needs to make an Oculus Rift demo of the Euthanasia Coaster.

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rimantas
Damn, something related to my country at the top of HN and it's about suicide
more or less. Sad fact: Lithuania is among the top countries regarding
suicides :(

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fixermark
I feel like this wouldn't work.

I'm not a doctor, but I was under the impression that the brain could survive
lack of blood flow for several minutes. How long is this ride supposed to
last?

~~~
unwind
The ride time is 3:20 according to the linked-to page.

I thought this was horrible. I guess it's "art", but still. Yuck.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "I thought this was horrible."

What about it did you find horrible? If you wanted to end your life it seems
like a relatively pain free way to do so. Artistically it's also pretty
interesting imo.

~~~
nsxwolf
I find euthanasia to be horrible, so a euthanasia roller coaster is
automatically horrible.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Why do you find euthanasia horrible? It's much more horrible to force someone
to endure sever pain against their will.

~~~
davidw
I think that someone dying is pretty horrible, even if it is less horrible
than dying some other way.

~~~
davidcollantes
Dying is horrible? Why? We all die, it is a known end, why will it be
horrible?

~~~
davidw
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7708986](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7708986)

------
njharman
That does not sound fun. 2 min to contemplate you've made wrong choice but
with no way out. Then terror and passing out.

There's definitely more enjoyable ways to end your misery.

~~~
TausAmmer
Add eject button.

"I want to die, I will jump off the ledge!" \- "Please go ahead" \- "On other
thought...."

~~~
aaronem
For maximum fun potential, add an eject option but no parachute or other PPE
of any sort.

------
nilkn
Realistically, I think it would be much better to just use one of those
centrifuge machines. I imagine that actually riding this roller coaster,
before you faint, would be pretty painful. In a centrifuge you could probably
strap in the passenger a lot better and provide much more cushioned seating
and neck support so there's no pain involved.

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maaarghk
Considering this in a purely pragmatic sense, my main concern is that if you
were one of the "particularly robust" "customers" yourself, you might end up
covered in someone else's vomit in your last moments.

~~~
ygra
I guess at 10 g, when the body isn't able to pump blood to the brain anymore,
your stomach would have difficulties expelling its contents as well. At least
if I understood the operating principle correctly.

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ssprang
Reminds me of "The Centrifuge Brain Project"
[http://vimeo.com/58293017](http://vimeo.com/58293017)

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mjamil
Any conversation about individuals having the right to control their lives
(including the means to end them) seems to me to be a good thing. Similarly,
on a larger scale, I also find talking about the (often shady) efforts by
various governments to control population to be a welcome thing. Vonnegut's
"Welcome to the Monkey House" touches on both topics; it's worth a read.

------
facesonflags

      The artist's focus seems to be more on gravity than killing:

[http://www.julijonasurbonas.lt/t/gravitational-
aesthetics/](http://www.julijonasurbonas.lt/t/gravitational-aesthetics/)

------
GrinningFool
In related news:

[http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode17.htm](http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode17.htm)

------
lotsofmangos
It is less stupid and tasteless than the experiments being performed on humans
in Oklahoma at the moment.

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cmiller1
I want to get off Mr. Bones Wild Ride.

~~~
facesonflags
"Not with a bang but a whimper."

[http://aduni.org/~heather/occs/honors/Poem.htm](http://aduni.org/~heather/occs/honors/Poem.htm)

------
easymovet
blackout for sure, but 60 seconds of oxygen starvation shouldn't kill you
right? 10g's might snap you neck though.

~~~
iLoch
I would think that the severity of hypoxia depends on where in the body it
happens. As far as I know (not much, admittedly) exhaling then counting to 60
is different than not allowing any oxygen into the brain. If you look at the
Wikipedia page on Hypoxia you'll see a picture of a person with Hypoxia in
their hand. Can't imagine your brain would do very well if the same thing
occurred there.

~~~
aaronem
Exhale and count to 60, and your brain keeps running off the oxygen still in
your bloodstream. Evacuate your brain of blood, and it can't do that; as
deaths go, this one would probably be faster than a neck tourniquet, but
slower than the .50 BMG to the head I mentioned elsewhere in this thread. (How
can St. Peter tell who died that way? They're the ones who ask him "What the
hell was _that_?")

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djanogo
Seems like lot energy just to euthanize.

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nkozyra
I rode this, wasn't scary at all!

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ds9
This could never succeed here in the US - (a) general opposition to euthanasia
and (b) the amusement park industry would lobby against it because it would
scare people away from the regular, milder roller coasters.

It seems mostly academic, as there are much less costly, and not-unpleasant
methods - overdose of opiates for example.

~~~
peteretep

        > This could never succeed here in the US
    

Dang, ya think?

~~~
gadders
I bet repeat business would be appalling.

