Man Who Killed Himself On Harvard's Campus Left 1,904-Page Note

The man who took his own life on Harvard's campus Saturday left a 1,904-page suicide note online.

According to the Harvard Crimson, Mitchell Heisman wrote "Suicide Note," posted at http://suicidenote.info, while living in an apartment near the school. The note is a "sprawling series of arguments that touch upon historical, religious and nihilist themes," his mother, Lonni Heisman, told the Crimson. She said her son would have wanted people to know about his work.

The complex note, divided into four parts, touches on Christianity, the Holocaust and social progress, among other topics, and mentions Harvard several times.

IvyGate calls the note "probing, deeply researched, and often humorous."

Heisman was 35 when he shot himself on the steps of Harvard's Memorial Church Saturday. He had a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Albany. According to the Crimson, he worked in area bookstores and lived on inheritance from his father, who died when he was young.

Comments

[euromarkusx]

09:57 AM on 10/02/2010

Ignorance is Bliss

[allenjs]

11:58 PM on 09/28/2010

I was also slightly disturbed to see commenters claiming that his paper is representative of postmodernism. Heisman might still be alive if he had even a passing familiarity with postmodernism. The only times he mentions postmodernism are when he (inexplicably) equates it with sollipsism, and when he uses it in the same sentence as the word "deconstruction". His multiple uses of the word "deconstruction" only prove that he hasn't the slightest effing clue what that word means, which is tragic. If only he had thought to deconstruct concepts like "Jew", "Anglo-Saxon", and "Christian". It's especially ironic that he's (mis)-using "deconstruction" in the context of "deposing the Mosaic order" and Jewish identity. It's as if he read Sloterdijk's "Derrida, An Egyptian" and got completely confused.

In conclusion, I don't think we can say that Heisman took his life out of rational considerations, or even that his reasoning was remotely defensible. Instead, he seems like a young man who was in a tremendous amount of emotional pain and wanted to die, but who felt compelled to protect those he loved by making his suicide appear rational, calculated, and even heroic. I *do* believe that his "manifesto" was a labor of love (and not selfish), but that doesn't mean we need to accept it as a labor of logic -- it's not, and people need to stop saying that it's logical, smart, or intellectually valuable.

[allenjs]

11:50 PM on 09/28/2010

My younger brother committed suicide 5 years ago, after spending 3 years developing a complicated logical argument about determinism which he insisted could only be tested by killing himself. Given my personal experience, I can sympathize with Heisman's mom and sister, and have become deeply interested in people's rationalizations for suicide. I've spent the past 3 days reading Heisman's dissertation carefully.

Those who are calling this paper "genius", "a gift to humanity", or even "erudite" are sadly mistaken. When one is making life and death decisions, one must have unimpeachable reasoning. Heisman's shoddy scholarship is deplorable. It's a trainwreck. The paper would get a failing grade in any philosophy, political science, biology, history, economics, rhetoric, or religion class I know. Making major life decisions on a hopelessly flawed thesis is not something to be applauded.

I can only imagine that people are flattering Heisman's paper out of sympathy. But I promise you it's is no comfort to the family to be told that a suicidal theory is "brilliant"; especially when the theory is patently nonsensical. Flattering such nonsense is reckless, IMO. And it sure as heck isn't any comfort for the people making these flawed arguments. We have people in the comments thread like 'WhoIsJohnGalt42' using similarly flawed reasoning to justify suicide. When there is a life at stake, we need to hold people to the absolute highest standards of reasoning, and not flatter potentially dangerous nonsense.

[Pinki Tuscaderro]

02:22 PM on 09/27/2010

When stigma prevents people from seeking mental health care, suffering leads to psychological deterioration and, sometimes, death. Reach out to those around you. Recover means: Respect. Encourage. Communicate. Overcome. Validate. Evolve. Restore.

[RobertHenryEller]

08:01 AM on 09/27/2010

A couple of points, not about the suicide or the note per se, but about some assumptions and misinformation surrounding this.

1. Heisman was not a Harvard student or graduate. He went to university elsewhere. He lived in the Harvard area, and killed himself on campus.

2. News reports stated that Heisman worked at bookstores in the area. Whether he had to do this for money, or not, has not been made clear. But just because Heisman inherited money, it has not been reported that he inherited so much money that he was "rich," or could afford not to work. He may have had a lot of money, or just a small stipend. As well, it is not safe to assume that because he had inherited money, that he was spoiled or lazy.

Like I said, I'm not commenting on Heisman's suicide or his note. I just wanted to ask people not to spread misinformation, or to jump to conclusions on the basis of unfounded assumptions.

[olivesforbreakfast]

07:25 AM on 09/27/2010

Folks, let's start anywhere with Heisman's text rather than just hurling expletives and derogatory comments at it.

For example, let's take a look at page 940. Heisman gets into something about the subpolitical feminization of a conquered people.

I'm not an historian so I was questioning whether this notion of subpolitical-feminization was original or not. I googled the phrase and nothing came up.This might suggest that he was in fact doing some original thinking.

Another observation: Although his intention, clearly, was to be as comprehensive as possible, I don't get the sense that he dabbled in psychoanalysis. Yet his observations about the failure of patriarchy to do its job (when it loses a war or fails to protect its people) would probably make Norman O. Brown (Love's Body) smile.

As for attacks on Heisman for being juvenile? So far the only justification for this that I sense was his hardened attitude about material life as he discussed nihilism. He didn't seem to sense a transcendent (that is non-rational, unexplainable) underpinning of life. Lacking that, I can partly understand the seduction of suicide that laid claim to his psyche.

So, yes, in that sense I found him adolescent. A more mature view had not yet emerged. It takes a seasoned person to include unknowables in one's POV without losing rationality.

Other than that, I'm finding him interesting to read. Of course it appears to be the trolls on the site are already busy trying to tear him down.

[I3edlam]

04:54 AM on 09/27/2010

Suicide is man's way of telling God, "You can't fire me - I quit."
Bill Maher

[Carbon Forteetoo]

03:01 AM on 09/27/2010

Has anyone considered forming a religion based on this suicide manifesto? I hope it's not too late! Where are my Nike's??!?

[Carouser]

11:29 PM on 09/26/2010

Heisman’s megalomaniacal rhetorical positioning (he has already been compared to Camus and Nietzsche) shows the thoughts of a troubled man equally media savvy and out of touch with reality. Could not his ‘work’ (crass quotations marks I know) be ‘suppressed’ by simple virtue of that matter that no one any longer has the time or willpower to wade through 1,905 pages and 1,455 footnotes just to see if you can argue about “the seditious genius” of “Jesus’ penis” coherently.

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/09/mitchell-heismans-1905-page-harvard-suicide-note-and-why-we-care-about-it/

[hidekimatsui]

11:47 PM on 09/26/2010

No

[hidekimatsui]

10:47 PM on 09/26/2010

tl;dr

[Peter Cullen]

09:32 PM on 09/26/2010

Typical story of a depressed and disillusioned teenager learning that both he and humanity as a whole are insignificant; without meaning, purpose, or value. Teenager sits down to write suicide note, decides to add meaning, purpose, and value to the note....and Voila....he's 35 years old and has written 1,904 pages.

Seriously though, I read through parts of his work, and his obsession with Sociobiology is kind of juvenile. Yes, we are selfish animals at our core...but it beats being a dead selfish animal.

[alpha centauri]

09:54 PM on 09/26/2010

"Yes, we are selfish animals at our core...but it beats being a dead selfish animal."

So which do you prefer:

Alive as hitler or Dead as Peter Cullen?

[Peter Cullen]

12:06 PM on 09/27/2010

I think the essay (suicide note) would respond that it makes no difference. You could transpose the people and conditions of your question and should still yield the same answer.

[olivesforbreakfast]

04:33 PM on 09/26/2010

The comments about this guy lead me to believe that some people haven't as much as taken even one look at his document.

My guess is that he renamed it at the very end yielding to bitterness, humor, and irony. A typical suicide note is personal; this document has nothing to do with justifying his death, per se, except perhaps in the broadest context.

I'm not suggesting that anyone can immediately determine the ultimate value of his work; we'll leave that for the scholarly minds. The fact that it's over 1900 pages long? Big deal. If it is good it would have been published in successive volumes, not all in one go. Brute length does not equate with a lack of rationality

My guess is that this document could become something of an American cult classic. Whether it will be regarded as in the same league as the Valerie Solanis marginal rant, S.C.U.M., or as crazy and darkly confrontative in the manner of the work of Ted Kaczynski remains to be seen.

I myself have only limited references in the field but my own guess is that he was aspiring to be an heir to a Howard Zinn type lineage.

So why rush to judgment by saying his suicide means his work lacks value? Van Gogh committed suicide at the same age as this guy and his work remains highly esteemed more than 150 years after this death. Let's read it first, at the very least.

[May Levy]

01:48 PM on 09/26/2010

Liberalism is not destroying us, it may be leading us toward socialist leadership, but when the balances of wealth distribution level out, I fear society will revert to democratic partisanship.

[Christine Gallo]

07:29 PM on 09/26/2010

"I fear society will revert to democratic partisanship."

And that is bad, why?

[Bluemax1]

01:45 PM on 09/26/2010

This is a sad loss for his family and my prayers go out to them. He had much to offer the world and his gift to us was to be his writings. I would hope instead of suicide that when the pain is too much to bear that people would reach out to the love around them or seek counseling.

There is a real disconnect in our culture that reinforces isolation that often leads to depression. In our culture we tend to distance ourselves and lead separate lives. In the cities we often find a fast paced concrete jungle that only adds to the numbing of our spirit. In European countries by contrast the people surround themselves with cultural beauty and their spirit is nourished by naturally connecting with people. This is made easier in an environment where walking is encouraged in the course of shopping for daily fresh food. In our culture we need to be aware of this need to connect to others, spending time in nature, and embracing a healthy diet.

[Vernie31]

12:43 PM on 09/26/2010

Just another ZERO trust fund BABY who had never had to struggle to achieve anything in LIFE of value. A common thread, unfortunately.