I put "chosen" in quotes because one thing they have in common is Clinical Depression. This condition is not the sort of hipster malaise / ennuye that we like to attribute to "Genuises", or "Artists" as some kind of "Creativity" well. Clinical Depression is a biological cluster bomb to the brain, a paralysing, life-threatening condition that we should think of as the mental equivalent of a spinal cord injury ... not a "mid-life crisis" or emotional "funk".

Aaron's death highlights an issue that has been in the forefront of the US newsmedia in recent months, mental health care (or lack thereof) in our society. We have been focusing on tragedies like the shooting of Gabby Giffords, the theatre shooting, and now the shooting at a school in Connecticut, and many have been using these as salient examples of the high cost to society of mental health problems.

An equally salient discussion ought to take place around the tragedy that is suicide of people like Aaron, like Sam Roweis, and others. There is no doubt, for people with personal relationships with someone who commits suicide, the toll is unfathomable. For the rest of us, there is also a cost to society, what people in the business community call "opportunity cost". Aaron (and others) had untold opportunities for positively affecting the lives of millions of people around the world.

The problem is large and complex. Where to start? Aaron wrote about this (http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/productivity).

My own suggestion: learn some facts about Major Depression. It is not housewives of beverly hills going to their therapist to vent about their vapid lives. Major Depression is a biological cruise missile to the mind.

One place to start: Robert Sapolsky (Stanford) : http://youtu.be/NOAgplgTxfc