Mitchell Heisman

A 35-year-old man shot himself on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard on Saturday, in front of a tour group. The act appears to have been the closing argument of his 1900-page suicide note, which he published online at www.suicidenote.info:

"Now, before I blow my brains out, I should like to point out that the most basic issue at the very center of this work is not biology, race, or technology; it is nihilism. Ultimately, this is an experiment in nihilism."

It doesn't seem to have been an act of depression, at least not obviously — his tone is light throughout. (One note on the website: "What suicide note would be complete without a bibliography?") He just seems to have convinced himself that the only way to make his point, the only way to expose the core of the truth that electrified him, was by taking it to its rational conclusion (which was, in the final crux of it, irrational).