<p>i think i'm gonna do essay question # 1: "At present you need to live the question."Rainer Maria Rilke, translated from the German by Joan M. Burnham.</p>
<p>my essay would be reflecting on why have i not committed suicide yet because life has no intrinsic value and is a collection of sufferings that far outweigh the pleasures. is this inappropriate?</p>
<p>Hi, komargo,</p>
<p>Suicide is not an "inappropriate" topic per se. But it is a topic that makes many people feel wary of the author. To the point, I feel very concerned that you are contemplating or have contemplated suicide. </p>
<p>If you really believe "life has no intrinsic value and is a collection of sufferings that far outweigh the pleasures," then please immediately talk to an adult you trust about those feelings or otherwise take action to get emotional support as you explore your feelings. If you are thinking about ending your life and can't turn to anyone you know, call the national suicide hotline 1-800-SUICIDE. Definitely shelve this college admission stuff....</p>
<p>If you don't really believe "life has no intrinsic values....," i.e., if you were just positing a hypothetical suicide situation as a potentially compelling essay, then I don't think you should write about it. 1-I think the rule of thumb for essays is, your writing needs to be an honest, passionate reflection of you and your beliefs. 2-In my opinion, turning this prompt into a first person muse on suicide is naturally going to distract adcoms from your application for admission to college and cause them to be concerned about your well-being.</p>
<p>Maybe you can clarify your intentions, komargo?</p>
<p>it was just hypothetical. i wouldn't actually commit suicide. i've just realized that life doesn't really have any purpose outside of the biological one perpertrated on us by evolution and that the pain in life far outweighs the pleasures. thx for the response, i think i'm gonna choose a different topic</p>
<p>i think it's a good idea to look for a new topic, because the response from TXA is not uncommon, and that's not what you want your adcom to be thinking.</p>
<p>komargo, thanks for coming back to clarify your thoughts. </p>
<p>I don't imagine a rebuttal from a 50-year-old parent about how "Life is Good" would persuade you to look at things differently. ;) But I do hope that somewhere along life's path, you figure out why your life is more than mere evolutionary existence. </p>
<p>Good luck refining your approach to the infamous U Chicago uncommon essay!</p>
<p>i'm gonna clarify what i said earlier: i am not going to commit suicide. my essay would be about a philosophical question; does life have any intrinsic value, and is life full of pain or pleasures? this would be the question that i need to live because it constantly affects me</p>
<p>but i'm gonna do something different anyways, i just wanted to reassure people that i have no interest in dying and explain that my essay would be kind of philosophical.</p>
<p>There actually is a recognized therapy based on your premise which maintains one should accept that much of life is miserable and one should just make a commitment to get on with it and make the best of things. I think the National Lampoon magazine's meaning of life issue back in the 1970's said it best, "One thing leads to another, and before you know it your dead."</p>
<p>That is a good topic but one that has been used time and again maybe not in college admissions but in philosophy. It's nothing new, the same question: If life has no objectional values whats the purpose, Is life a game meant to torment? These have been asked for many centuries and have led some philosophers to the contemplation of suicide. I think there is a play written on this topic, forgot the title.</p>