Kevin M. Carlsmith is perhaps a name and a person you do not know. But the world is not made by celebrities or popular people. The world is made be great researchers, knowledge producers sitting quietly and far away from the honking noise of social media, newspapers, radio, television and so on. That was the life Kevin M. Carlsmith lived.

Kevin M. Carlsmith was a social psychologist who made great breakthroughs in the study of punishment. He introduced to the world the concept of Just Punishment.

Kevin was a professor of psychology at Colgate University. Kevin M. Carlsmith started his career at Colgate in 2003, having earned a PhD at Princeton University (2001), a masters from Princeton (1998), a masters from the University New Hampshire (1996), and a bachelors of science from Lewis & Clark College (1989).

This research blog post however is not so much about his career. We are talking about the sad part of his life, that is, we are talking here about his death and the manner of his death, and how that he was so gentle in his death bed that he cared so much about us that he wanted to share the personal experience of death by cancer.

Think about it, in the very deep sea of pain and suffering and the moments when death was surrounding him, Kevin thought so much about this world he was leaving, that he took a moment in the midst of the horrors of deadly cancer to write for us.

Kevin M. Carlsmith died in November 9, 2011 having battled cancer for three years. He died young at the age of 44. He followed along on the footsteps of his father. His father was Merill Carlsmith, a great psychologist at Stanford University.

Merrill Carlsmith, together with Leon Festinger, made great breakthroughs in the theory of cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. Leon Festinger went on to introduce to us the concept of the proximity effect in love relationships.

Merill Carlsmith further published a very much helpful textbook Social Psychology. Social Psychology textbook went on to become a landmark prescribed book to many universities across the world.

Merrill Carlsmith also died young from cancer at the age of 48. And the son also died in his forties. Kevin Carlsmith has been a fit and healthy person. He lived a superb life of good health and wellness, exercising robustly by climbing rugged high mountains, and eating green, but still cancer found its way to take him down.

Kevin M. Carlsmith has recorded in step by step formal the last minutes of his life until to the very last seconds when he died.

This is what he said about his death from cancer:

“Dear Friends,

I was recently chastised (gently but appropriately) for failing to update this journal. It seems that the people who love me really want to know how I’m doing but don’t want to intrude. I thought being a hermit was OK, but it seems not.

So thank you for the feedback, and I will try to do better if I can. Your responses, in whatever form, have been so very much appreciated.Let me begin with the bad news, and try to progress to something more upbeat.

The following paragraph comes from an update I sent to a friend: “I guess I’m hanging in there — but it’s tough going. I have no chemo or doctor’s appointments, (at the moment) and that ‘s a nice change. But I’m clearly heading downhill and that’s less nice. I don’t like to complain, but I know you and others care and would like to know. My energy is in decline, and I’m down to about 130 pounds, I’m restricted to my walker inside the house, and a wheelchair outside, because my balance is so bad. Indeed, I’m having falls even when being super careful. I try to exercise in the pool when I can, but that’s not often. My eyes are getting worse, and ears are at 0% and 20% functionality. Finger tips are getting numb. Food has almost no flavor, and the mechanics of chewing and swallowing are getting harder. The mechanics of daily living are becoming really difficult.”

So physically I’m in decline, and ironically this has led me to consider leaving hospice care and returning to a chemo regimen. The side effects, as always, would be unpleasant, but there could be an upside to more chemo. The probabilities are not too promising, but neither are they zero. I will decide soon.We’ve had tremendous support, and I want to thank everyone who has reached out, helped out, and been there for us. Most recently, Alison’s mother came out and spent weeks taking care of us. As a result, I may be the only advanced cancer patient who has gained weight—I have a little pot belly. She did a wonderful job of feeding me and tending to me. Alison’s father has also come out to help, and my brother has done a yeoman’s job of taking care of his family, my family, and my mother’s estate. We’ve had many friends & cousins contribute in all those little but invaluable ways. And, of course, Alison continues to hold the family together.The most amazing support has come from my friends, colleagues, and students back at Colgate. Under the direction of Mark Shiner, they put together a “tribute” to me in the chapel at Colgate. Many of my friends stood and spoke about my contributions to the university or to their own development. Many, many others wrote me personal notes, or sent photos, or communicated in some other way to express their love. It was simply the most amazing gift one can imagine – I thank you all for helping with it. If you would like to see it, Mark set it up on YouTube: Thank you, Mark, and thank you to everyone else who participated.I will bring this journal update to a close with another apology for retreating into my cave. I will try to keep you updated; it’s nice to know that you want to know. Nonetheless, I may well fail to contact you individually. My energy remains too low to send out all of the personal messages that I ought, so please know that I wish I could, I love you, but I may not be able to respond to you directly.

Much love,

Kevin”.

I find this note by Kevin very brave. But my consideration is not about his bravery but the fact that it will serve as a record of history for ages. It brings me to the concept of this platform, which is about the value and importance of history.