Do you think the will to live is the same for everyone, or is it stronger in some than others?

When Christine and Isaac are sent to Dachau, she worries he has lost his will to live. Do you think the will to live is the same for everyone, or is it stronger in some than others?

I think the will to live is an individual characteristic. Each person will respond differently to extreme difficulties. Some will survive them; some will not. The same is true with all of life's trials. Some will succeed; some will not be able to push on to clear their difficulties.

Each person reacts differently to trials and difficulties. It is these life challenges that show what an individual is made of, and the will to survive or to give up is part of that.

I believe part of it depends on what's at stake. If you have children, say, or other loved ones you need to stay alive to help it gives a person more reason to live. Otherwise, I think that will is much lower.

I think it definitely varies from person to person. Sometimes the will to live is actually more the fear of dying than anything else. It depends on what stage or age of life a person is in. I believe the will may be stronger in some younger people because they have so many things ahead of them while people of a certain age may feel that they have completed most things they wanted to and are ready to let go. Although I have seen the opposite in members of my own family.

I have always found this an interesting concept. It definitely is different in people and I always wonder why. I think certain life situations and experiences certainly play a part in it but have to think that much of it is part of a persons make up. The same as why some people have such fight and determination and others not at all.
I often wonder if I was put in a situation similar to what took place in the book, how I would react.

There is definitely a stronger will to live in some people just like some people are more driven then others or more artistic then others. This is actually something that has been in my mind recently. I work with rescue dogs, especially puppy mill dogs. Some dogs become skittish and shy and can't bear to be touched by humans. Others adjust quickly, are outgoing and loving. And there is a whole spectrum in between. Its very fascinating

I wonder what factors make one person more adaptable, better able to withstand outside forces working against them?

Obviously, people who commit suicide have lost the will to live, at least at that point in time, so of course they don't have the same will to live. I think the will to live is related to a person's mental health, although events can certainly influence that health.

I saw a rather unpleasant experiment in a documentary a few months ago in which the researchers took two groups of rats and put them in a container of water with no way out and measured how long they swam around before drowning.

The difference between the groups was that one group of rats had previously been put in the same container but given a way to get out after a period of time, while the other group were in the tank for the first time. The group who had had previous experience of being able to get out of the tank swam for considerably longer, I recollect it was multiple times longer, a number of hours; whereas the group who had no experience of getting out of the tank gave up much sooner and drowned.

The conclusion from the rat experiment seems pretty obvious - take away any sense of hope and the animal will give up sooner than one with hope. But I'm not sure if it gets us any closer to understanding what it is that causes one human to push through the most extraordinary of hardships while another, seemingly with so many advantages and opportunities, loses the will to live.

davinamw - that's such a horrible experiment! I know there are important studies that need to be pursued but even though I'm a bit repulsed by rats I can't fathom such cruelty.

But I understand the point of the experiment and it certainly makes a lot of sense. I'd be surprised had it turned out any other way.