Philip Gale
Encyclopedia
The death of Philip Gale by suicide
took place on Friday March 13, 1998. Gale fell to his death from a classroom window on the fifteenth floor of a building on the MIT
campus. Before ending his life, Gale (a pioneering internet
software developer, computer prodigy
, and avid musician
) had earned roughly a million dollars worth of stock options for his innovative internet service provider
(ISP) programs at EarthLink
.
) and his sister Elizabeth were the children of Marie Gale, a Scientology
official, and David Gale, a software programmer who died from a heart attack in 1995. Gale was profoundly affected by his father's death, and still struggling to come to terms with it at the time of his suicide.
Gale was educated at The Delphian School
in Sheridan, Oregon
, a private boarding school based on the ideas of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
. He started education at The Delphian School, at the age of eight, graduated from there at age 14 and was admitted to MIT at the age of fifteen. At MIT, he joined the Phi Sigma Kappa
fraternity as a freshman in the fall of 1994, and by the time of his suicide had chosen to major in music.
Gale took a break from MIT at the age of sixteen, working at EarthLink Network Inc. for a year, as director of research and development, after writing a key software program called Total Access at MIT. The software allowed EarthLink's internet servers to connect far more customers to the Internet, giving the firm a competitive advantage and enabling its ascent to the top ranks among ISPs, acquiring one million customers and a market worth of $2 billion. Before his seventeenth birthday, Gale earned stock
options
worth about a million dollars and a USD$70,000 salary at the Los Angeles-based company, which was run according to Hubbard's management principles.
by Cambridge police, Gale's death at the age of nineteen, late on the evening of March 13, 1998, was ruled a suicide. Gale was a sophomore
at MIT at the time of his death. For weeks, Gale had been asking classmates how to access the roof of MIT's tallest structure, the Green Building
. On the blackboard of the MIT classroom in the Green Building, he wrote out Isaac Newton
's equation for how an object accelerates as it falls, along with a sketch of a stick figure of someone tossing a chair. He signed the message, "Phil was here," picked up a chair, hurled it and then himself through a window on the fifteenth floor of the Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences building, commonly known as the Green Building. Eric Plotsky, a graduate of MIT, was inside the building watching television at the time of Gale's death, and heard a crashing sound. Plotsky recounted to National Public Radio, "The windows of the building were sealed. So he actually had to throw a chair out the window to break it so that he could jump through. The noise that we heard was that chair hitting the ground. Some of the people in my dorm actually looked out the window in time to see him fall."
"It was typical Phil. It's so like him to have planned a show," said an ex-girlfriend, Wellesley College student Christine Hrul, "He was so careful with things in his life, so methodical." Students reported hearing the sound of breaking glass, then a splintering sound, and finally a scream which sounded like "an echoing wail".
In part, Gale's suicide note read "Presumably I have jumped from a tall building. [...] I am not crazy, albeit driven to suicide. It is not about any single event, or person. It is about stubborn sadness, and a detached view of the world. I see my life—so much dreary, mundane, wasted time wishing upon unattainable goals—and I feel little attachment to the future. But it is not so bad, relatively. I exaggerate. In the end, it is that I am unwilling (sick of living) to live in mediocrity. And this is what I have chosen to do about it. The saddest part is the inevitable guilt and sorrow I will force on my family and friends. But there is not much I can say. I am sorry. Try to understand that this is about me and my 'fuked up ideas.' It is not because I was raised poorly or not cared for enough. It just is. [...] take care world, Philip." Gale closed his handwritten suicide note, found at his apartment, with a smiley face
and the words "And stay happy!"
, about the role Gale's Scientologist upbringing might have played in his suicide. The notion was dismissed by people at MIT that Gale had been close to, who said that Scientology had not been on Gale's mind at the time he took his life. Lauren McLeod a reported with the Concord Journal and friend of Gale's said that he had been coming to terms with the recent death of his father who had died of a heart attack. During his time at Earthlink Ladner says he introduced Gale to Church of the SubGenius
, which specializes in debunking cult
s and has developed its own cult following
. While they worked together at Earthlink Ladner reported that Gale hung a poster of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, SubGenius' fictional spiritual leader, on his office door.
People magazine featured Gale's story in a 2001 series of articles on suicides at MIT, describing him as a music major, "so prodigiously bright that he counted few of his much older peers as intellectual equals." In August 2001, National Public Radio program All Things Considered
noted that in the wake of Gale's death, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had investigated how to deal with issues of student suicides. Eric Plotsky commented to National Public Radio, "In many ways, suicide has been looked on as something that's just part and parcel of life at the institute. That ingrained thinking historically, I think, has prevented administrators from looking at suicide as a problem to which there might be some reasonable response." The investigative report released by MIT identified deficiencies within its mental health
program.
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
took place on Friday March 13, 1998. Gale fell to his death from a classroom window on the fifteenth floor of a building on the MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
campus. Before ending his life, Gale (a pioneering internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
software developer, computer prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
, and avid musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
) had earned roughly a million dollars worth of stock options for his innovative internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
(ISP) programs at EarthLink
EarthLink
EarthLink , is an Internet service provider headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It claims 1.94 million subscribers.- Business :EarthLink provides a variety of Internet connection types, including dial-up, DSL, satellite, and cable. Both dial-up and high speed Internet access are available...
.
Background
Philip Chandler Gale (born 1978, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
) and his sister Elizabeth were the children of Marie Gale, a Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
official, and David Gale, a software programmer who died from a heart attack in 1995. Gale was profoundly affected by his father's death, and still struggling to come to terms with it at the time of his suicide.
Gale was educated at The Delphian School
The Delphian School
The Delphian School is a K-12 private school in unincorporated Yamhill County, Oregon, near Sheridan. It is operated by Delphi Schools, using ideas from L. Ron Hubbard from Heron Books. The Study Technology is licensed through the Scientology related group Applied Scholastics. The school building...
in Sheridan, Oregon
Sheridan, Oregon
Sheridan is a city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. Platted in the 1860s when it received a post office, the city was incorporated in 1880. A major fire burned much of the city in 1913, and a flood covered much of the city in 1964...
, a private boarding school based on the ideas of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
. He started education at The Delphian School, at the age of eight, graduated from there at age 14 and was admitted to MIT at the age of fifteen. At MIT, he joined the Phi Sigma Kappa
Phi Sigma Kappa
-Phi Sigma Kappa's Creed and Cardinal Principles:The 1934 Convention in Ann Arbor brought more changes for the fraternity. Brother Stewart W. Herman of Gettysburg wrote and presented the Creed, and Brother Ralph Watts of Massachusetts drafted and presented the Cardinal Principles.-World War II:The...
fraternity as a freshman in the fall of 1994, and by the time of his suicide had chosen to major in music.
Gale took a break from MIT at the age of sixteen, working at EarthLink Network Inc. for a year, as director of research and development, after writing a key software program called Total Access at MIT. The software allowed EarthLink's internet servers to connect far more customers to the Internet, giving the firm a competitive advantage and enabling its ascent to the top ranks among ISPs, acquiring one million customers and a market worth of $2 billion. Before his seventeenth birthday, Gale earned stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
options
Option (finance)
In finance, an option is a derivative financial instrument that specifies a contract between two parties for a future transaction on an asset at a reference price. The buyer of the option gains the right, but not the obligation, to engage in that transaction, while the seller incurs the...
worth about a million dollars and a USD$70,000 salary at the Los Angeles-based company, which was run according to Hubbard's management principles.
Death
After an investigation and an autopsyAutopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
by Cambridge police, Gale's death at the age of nineteen, late on the evening of March 13, 1998, was ruled a suicide. Gale was a sophomore
Sophomore
Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...
at MIT at the time of his death. For weeks, Gale had been asking classmates how to access the roof of MIT's tallest structure, the Green Building
Green Building (MIT)
The Cecil and Ida Green Building, also called the Green Building or Building 54, is an academic and research building at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It was designed by noted architect I. M. Pei, who received his bachelor's degree from MIT in...
. On the blackboard of the MIT classroom in the Green Building, he wrote out Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
's equation for how an object accelerates as it falls, along with a sketch of a stick figure of someone tossing a chair. He signed the message, "Phil was here," picked up a chair, hurled it and then himself through a window on the fifteenth floor of the Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences building, commonly known as the Green Building. Eric Plotsky, a graduate of MIT, was inside the building watching television at the time of Gale's death, and heard a crashing sound. Plotsky recounted to National Public Radio, "The windows of the building were sealed. So he actually had to throw a chair out the window to break it so that he could jump through. The noise that we heard was that chair hitting the ground. Some of the people in my dorm actually looked out the window in time to see him fall."
"It was typical Phil. It's so like him to have planned a show," said an ex-girlfriend, Wellesley College student Christine Hrul, "He was so careful with things in his life, so methodical." Students reported hearing the sound of breaking glass, then a splintering sound, and finally a scream which sounded like "an echoing wail".
In part, Gale's suicide note read "Presumably I have jumped from a tall building. [...] I am not crazy, albeit driven to suicide. It is not about any single event, or person. It is about stubborn sadness, and a detached view of the world. I see my life—so much dreary, mundane, wasted time wishing upon unattainable goals—and I feel little attachment to the future. But it is not so bad, relatively. I exaggerate. In the end, it is that I am unwilling (sick of living) to live in mediocrity. And this is what I have chosen to do about it. The saddest part is the inevitable guilt and sorrow I will force on my family and friends. But there is not much I can say. I am sorry. Try to understand that this is about me and my 'fuked up ideas.' It is not because I was raised poorly or not cared for enough. It just is. [...] take care world, Philip." Gale closed his handwritten suicide note, found at his apartment, with a smiley face
Smiley
A smiley, smiley face, or happy face, is a stylized representation of a smiling human face, commonly occurring in popular culture. It is commonly represented as a yellow circle with two black dots representing eyes and a black arc representing the mouth...
and the words "And stay happy!"
Media coverage
Gale was raised a Scientologist, but at the time of his death Gale had not actively been one for years. Gale fully abandoned his Scientology beliefs while he was at EarthLink. According to Brian Ladner, his best friend at Earthlink said "Leaving Scientology was a traumatic experience. He was brought up thinking it was the only way," Speculation on campus, and on the Internet newsgroup alt.religion.scientologyAlt.religion.scientology
The newsgroup alt.religion.scientology is a Usenet newsgroup started in 1991 to discuss the controversial beliefs of Scientology, as well as the Church of Scientology, which claims exclusive intellectual property rights thereto and is viewed by many as a dangerous cult...
, about the role Gale's Scientologist upbringing might have played in his suicide. The notion was dismissed by people at MIT that Gale had been close to, who said that Scientology had not been on Gale's mind at the time he took his life. Lauren McLeod a reported with the Concord Journal and friend of Gale's said that he had been coming to terms with the recent death of his father who had died of a heart attack. During his time at Earthlink Ladner says he introduced Gale to Church of the SubGenius
Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
, which specializes in debunking cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s and has developed its own cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. While they worked together at Earthlink Ladner reported that Gale hung a poster of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, SubGenius' fictional spiritual leader, on his office door.
People magazine featured Gale's story in a 2001 series of articles on suicides at MIT, describing him as a music major, "so prodigiously bright that he counted few of his much older peers as intellectual equals." In August 2001, National Public Radio program All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
noted that in the wake of Gale's death, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had investigated how to deal with issues of student suicides. Eric Plotsky commented to National Public Radio, "In many ways, suicide has been looked on as something that's just part and parcel of life at the institute. That ingrained thinking historically, I think, has prevented administrators from looking at suicide as a problem to which there might be some reasonable response." The investigative report released by MIT identified deficiencies within its mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
program.