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good_testing_bad t1_iy60xwo wrote

Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, seizures, hallucinations, ataxia, haemorrhaging of the brain and collapse of the lungs.

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billfitz24 t1_iy61pds wrote

That’s horrifying. “Sorry dad, you’re too much work to take care of now, so we’re just gonna get you high on this poisonous plant then drop you from a great height and hope you die quickly.”

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echidna92 t1_iy68emg wrote

Seems like they could've just skipped the poisoning part, no?

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BrotherGreed t1_iy76puu wrote

Replying to LoneWanzerPilot (#750,858)

I think that it's interesting that the wiki article refers to it as ritual killing of the elderly. While it probably is part of it, the wording doesn't necessarily strike me as something done purely out of necessity.

Maybe in some areas hard times came and the elderly volunteered to die for the good of their village or whatever, recognizing that they would be a burden and never contribute meaningful labor again, and then it became a sort of expectation/ritual? I'm going to try to dig a little more into it. It's certainly piqued my morbid curiosity.

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BisonBravey t1_iy7aiip wrote

I'm pretty sure some nomadic cultures will designate someone to walk up behind an older person who is draining resources, and end their life in various ways.

Morality is simply different when survival is an everyday concern.

This is also why ancient rulers would sometimes maim captured warriors and send them home. They knew they would be a burden on their societies and would create a moral problem.

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