Philosophy
Death is not exactly one of the most pleasant topics of discussion, but it is an inescapable and universal aspect of life that we cannot avoid indefinitely. In the West, we tend to think that the appropriate thing to do with the bodies of the dead is to either cremate them or bury them in a coffin that's virtually hermetically sealed. Herodotus tells us that the Callatians used to make a meal out of their dead begetters.
Of the three choices, and despite its apparent gruesomeness, I think the Callatians have the best argument in their favor (assuming their relatives did not die of disease). Cremation is not environmentally friendly (to say the least, since it requires massive amounts of fuel to burn, and ends up releasing all the nasty chemicals that have accumulated in your body over the years into the air that the rest of us have to breathe), and burying the dead in sealed coffins guarantees that our bodies will benefit a bunch of maggots that will not themselves contribute to further the cycle of life (since they're also stuck inside the stupid box), and that's no way to live... err... die... end... whatever...
I personally favor donating one's body for organ transplants, or to science for research. Jae Rhim Lee thinks that if you want to do your part to be environmentally friendly, even after you die, you might be interested in her mushroom burial suit, which contains toxic-gobbling mushrooms and other interesting goodies.
Oh, and did I forget to mention you'd go out making a fashion statement? :)
- Food For Thought
A student in my Darwin class last week asked an interesting one. Why is it that we have names for certain meats that hide their source? We use the words "beef," "veal," "pork," and "venison," for meat from animals we don't care to name, but for others,...
- Sometimes, One Has To Just "let Go"
"Caplan: The case against care for those who are brain dead" by Arthur Caplan January 9th, 2014 Newsday Thirteen-year-old Jahi McMath died on Dec. 12 at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. Yet about a month later, Jahi is still on...
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- F. Ellipsoidea...a Huge Fungi
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- "promession"...good Idea?
The traditional choices for body disposal are changing. The usual method is ground burial and economics has introduced the cremation method. Cemeteries have changed...no more mausoleums and many forbid upright monuments. Neither ground burial or cremation...
Philosophy
Jae Rhim Lee - My Mushroom Burial Suit
Of the three choices, and despite its apparent gruesomeness, I think the Callatians have the best argument in their favor (assuming their relatives did not die of disease). Cremation is not environmentally friendly (to say the least, since it requires massive amounts of fuel to burn, and ends up releasing all the nasty chemicals that have accumulated in your body over the years into the air that the rest of us have to breathe), and burying the dead in sealed coffins guarantees that our bodies will benefit a bunch of maggots that will not themselves contribute to further the cycle of life (since they're also stuck inside the stupid box), and that's no way to live... err... die... end... whatever...
I personally favor donating one's body for organ transplants, or to science for research. Jae Rhim Lee thinks that if you want to do your part to be environmentally friendly, even after you die, you might be interested in her mushroom burial suit, which contains toxic-gobbling mushrooms and other interesting goodies.
Oh, and did I forget to mention you'd go out making a fashion statement? :)
- Food For Thought
A student in my Darwin class last week asked an interesting one. Why is it that we have names for certain meats that hide their source? We use the words "beef," "veal," "pork," and "venison," for meat from animals we don't care to name, but for others,...
- Sometimes, One Has To Just "let Go"
"Caplan: The case against care for those who are brain dead" by Arthur Caplan January 9th, 2014 Newsday Thirteen-year-old Jahi McMath died on Dec. 12 at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. Yet about a month later, Jahi is still on...
- Reverence Or A Clever Enterprise?...human Ashes Into Beads
"South Korea firm turns human ashes into beads"South Koreans who dread the idea of keeping relatives' ashes in urns can opt to have the remains turned into gem-like beads and placed in a dish.by Jung-yoon ChoiJanuary 21st, 2012Los Angeles TimesWhen...
- F. Ellipsoidea...a Huge Fungi
"Giant fungus discovered in China" by Matt Walker Editor August 1st, 2011 BBC Nature The most massive fruiting body of any fungus yet documented has been discovered growing on the underside of a tree in China. The fruiting body, which is equivalent...
- "promession"...good Idea?
The traditional choices for body disposal are changing. The usual method is ground burial and economics has introduced the cremation method. Cemeteries have changed...no more mausoleums and many forbid upright monuments. Neither ground burial or cremation...