I need someone to DISPROVE that "that which cannot kill me can only make me stronger."?

Question

I had a disagreement with my roommate about that which can't kill me can only make me stronger. He seemed to hold it as being absolutely true, but then I was able to argue him to my point of view which was that it isn't ALWAYS true. But then one of my dorm mates came in and held it to be absolutely true and I wasn't able to disprove his position because I couldn't find any counter examples he couldn't justify away. I argued that an individual can come away weaker from a negative experience and that that disproves the statement being absolutely true, but he argued that because it's a matter of perception and that it's an individual's own choice of whether or not to become stronger from an experience. I still want to win this argument so I need help.

I started off by saying breaking your leg doesn't make you stronger, but they both said that it can make you emotionally stronger. So then I argued that illnesses like Alzheimer's doesn't make you stronger, but they said that IT DOES KILL you. So then I argued that shell shock doesn't make you stronger, but my roommate argued that it does mean your survival instincts have gotten stronger.

Please give me a good argument as to why this isn't true. Only in-depth answers will get the best answer.

Answer 1

Depends on the person really. There are people who go completely mad and are locked up in an institution for the rest of their lives, or people that spend thousands of dollars on therapy after a shocking traumatic experience.

Answer 2

Well it is not meant to be taken literally. It is rather an affirmation in the face of adversity , that no matter what happens there will be positive result if only in the silver clouds
lining. Thus this statement is an attitude, not a philosophical truth. Ask your roommate if he gets every STD from every party girl on campus, if that will make him much stronger.....

Answer 3

"That which cannot kill me can only make me stronger." is not meant to be taken literally! It is a concept, a metaphor, for the idea that experiences good and bad help in the growth and development of a person. Intellect can prove or disprove any theory you care to postulate (put forward), ask yourself instead what value does the statement have in the lives of the people who use it. What validity does it have to members of society in general and ask yourself; "what is utility of arguing semantics about chopping off different numbers of limbs!"

Answer 4

I have applied this quote in my own life in that when facing adversity I like the idea of meeting it head on with the idea of I will deal with this and get through it and find a way to make the best. I do think though its a choice we make. There are people who face a difficult life circumstance or experiences and become stronger for it. There are others who get stuck in dwelling on the negative experience and self pity or grief and never recover. For example, I saw a special on climbing Everest. One of the climbers only had one leg. He said climbing Everest was a dream he never acted on until he lost his leg and then told himself he was going to adapt and go on to realize this dream. It wasn't so much getting to the top for him either, it was more the ability and opportunity to meet the challenge. I have known others with no more debilitating loss or injury who came home and never left their wheelchairs, gave up on their jobs, and lived on disability for the rest of their lives. I saw a special on holocaust survivors once that profiled the effect it had on different people. Some came out of that absolutely inspired and determined to make a positive impact and live with as much joy and passion as possible. Others were mentally broken and had to be placed in permanent care facilities.

It seems there is variation in how people respond that is probably partly choice but also how their brains are wired organically as well as the environmental experiences they had previously that shaped their personalities.

Answer 5

He's argument of absolute truth being a constant is flawed in his proof. To say 'everything' is absolutely relative is booger brained. You know from reasoning that if your teeth rot out you will not be as strong in the biting department ever again with your natural teeth. This is absolutely true, sir. An old ape bit me one time and it didn't even break the skin.

Answer 6

I cannot help you, because every adverse situation in life does make you stronger once you survive it, If it doesn't kill you.

There are two reasons:
... 1 ... You receive additional experience from surviving it.
.......... Experience makes us stronger.
... 2 ... You receive strength from just knowing that you have survived it.
.......... Knowledge is strength.

If we become a more worthy adversary, we have become stronger.

After his accident, Christopher Reeves gained an inner strength that was admirable, though he could not get out of his wheelchair.

grace2u

Answer 7

People survive ebola - I am pretty sure you will not be any stronger after that.

A severe brain injury that doesn't kill you outright but leaves you permanently in a vegetative state certainly does not make you stronger.

Answer 8

Ok. Think of things which are completetely inert, and have absolutely no effect on you in any way. They do not kill you, or even harm you, or make you stronger.

Answer 9

Attaching you to a giant aardvark and feeding you blancmange wont kill you. I'm pretty sure you wont become stronger form it either though.

Answer 10

I doubt suffering from severe depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder simultaneously would make you stronger.