Martin Manley, a sports statistician and member of the “Triple Nine Society” whose IQ ranked him in the 99.9th percentile, committed suicide August 15, 2013 on what was his 60th birthday. His suicide coincided with the release of a complex and comprehensive website documenting his life and his decision to end it. Manley stated that he did not suffer depression, was not ill or destitute, and that the decision to end his life on his own terms was born of logic. His primary reasons for committing suicide were to circumvent the decline of old age and to “have one of the most organized good-byes in recorded history.”
Statistics and analysis, by his own admission, drove Manley’s life from childhood through adulthood. A blogger and Kansas City sports reporter, Manley’s “efficiency index” is still a standard in use by the NBA. It was his own self-analysis that made him decide it was time to end his life.
“Nobody alive is more analytical than I am,” wrote Manley on his website. “I know what I can do on a daily basis. I know how many mistakes I make when I type or write or remember or think. I chart everything. I understand trends. I’m making an educated decision that my mind is deteriorating at a rapid rate.”
He went on to say: “I always thought I might commit suicide someday. When I considered the options of living to be old and all the negatives associated with that alternative, I knew there was no way on earth I was going to allow myself to deal with such an intolerable situation. In order to guarantee that I avoided it, I also knew that I had to commit the act before I was incapacitated and unable to carry it out.”
According to Manley, the planning for his death began on June 11. 2012. This included the construction of the large website for which he paid Yahoo five years in advance. He worked on the content of the website over the next 14 months.
Manley’s website contains many personal insights and recollections that demonstrate the characteristics of profound giftedness, such as the inability to sleep and an obsession with statistics. On the website, Manley briefly discussed his giftedness and how embracing it drove his non-conformity and unusual decision to end his life “I have worked my whole life to figure out who I am, what makes me special, what makes me unique, and how I fit into society as an individual. Having learned who I am, I have become very comfortable and confident of my place.”
While Manley assured readers of his website that he was not depressed, he did admit to never truly being happy. “I also always recognized – perhaps more than the average person – how important happiness is. I just was never able to find it for more than brief periods in my life and so I almost never used the word ‘happy’… I guess because I identified it as an emotion. Instead I found myself using the word ‘satisfied’ which is more of statement of fact – something that can be measured or quantified… like X=4 ‘satisfies’ the equation of 2 + 2 = X.”
Since news broke of his suicide, Yahoo took down the site, citing a violation of the terms of service. His sister, as well as members of the public, have requested that Yahoo honor his wishes and reinstate the account. In response to Yahoo’s actions, mirror sites have begun popping up, established by activists trying to ensure that Martin Manley’s goal for an eternal presence on the World-Wide Web is achieved.
“Today is August 15, 2013. Today is my 60th birthday. Today is the last day of my life. Today, I committed suicide. Today, is the first day this site is active, but it will be here for years to come.”