6 ms·

Dissolving the Dead

38 points by nols 11y ago

rl3 11y ago
>After twenty minutes or so, he placed them in his bone press, turning them to dust before wheeling in the second body. That seems like such a waste. If it were me, I'd want my bones artificially reconnected to one another, then my skeleton donated to a comedy club or something. No reason to stop having fun just because you're dead.
- zck 11y ago
  The comedian/improviser Del Close willed his skull to a theatre to be in Hamlet (http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/as-del-lay-dying/Content?oid=1109931 http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/as-del-lay-dying/Conten...): > "I give my skull to the Goodman Theatre, for a production of Hamlet in which to play Yorick, or for any other purposes the Goodman Theatre deems appropriate." At a press conference on July 1, 1999, Charna gave Robert Falls, the Goodman's artistic director, a skull resting on a red velvet cushion inside a Lucite box. Falls held out the skull in his right hand and spoke. "Alas, poor Del! I knew him, Horatio: A fellow of infinite jest..." > But the skull wasn't Del's. Charna came clean in the October 9, 2006, issue of the New Yorker. After Del died, hospital personnel laughed at her request to remove the head, suggesting that she contact the Illinois Society of Pathologists. They too ultimately refused. After two days, she reluctantly had the body cremated in its entirety. Then she went skull shopping at the Anatomical Chart Company in Skokie. She purchased a skull there, and to make it resemble Del's she and her sister pulled out as many teeth as they could manage before turning it over to the Goodman. > The truth doesn't seem to matter to most of those who knew him. Robert Falls still keeps the skull on his bookshelf. The attitude of most of Del's friends is that if it wasn't originally Del's skull, it is now.
  - rl3 11y ago
    I read the full story and quite enjoyed it, thanks for the link.
jaysoncena 11y ago
Isn't this similar to what cartels does to dispose bodies?
- lighttower 11y ago
  that's exactly what I was wondering. except I thought their system dissolved bones too. I'm thinking of the story from Atlantic about the DEA's taking down a Mexican cartel that dissolved many of the victims in what they called "soup"
- huherto 11y ago
  Don't know if it is an urban legend. They have tigers or hogs to dispose of the bodies. Source: I live in cartel land.
- scurvy 11y ago
  Yep. El Pozolero was famous (infamous?) for this. [0] [0] http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/04/el-pozolero-legacy-of-death-by-tijuanas.html http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/04/el-pozolero-legacy-of-...
Killah911 11y ago
How about just burying the body, no embalming fluid, no casket etc & letting it decompose. Is that harmful to the environment?
- ComputerGuru 11y ago
  This is the norm in Arab/Muslim countries where their doctrine instructs that the (naked) dead should be covered only in a simple, white cotton shroud and buried six feet under; caskets and embalming fluids are not used. (Hence the Islamic requirement for a speedy (same day if possible) burial, no wake, etc.) In similar vein, mausoleums, raised tombstones, and cemetery shrines are also forbidden (the overall theme is "we are all equal in death"). The net result is that cemeteries are "reusable" and some of the most-popular in Saudi Arabia ("jannatul baqee'" a là Arlington Cemetery) are reused/recycled every so many decades (or is it once a century, once the denizens are forgotten/no longer visited?).
  - pascalmemories 11y ago
    Are you sure about that ? http://www.bury.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4013&p=0 http://www.bury.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4013&p=0 Specifically discussing Moslem burials, offers : Types of graves available Timber, brick or concrete vaults On request, graves will be lined with timber, brick or concrete breeze blocks to form an inner shell in the grave space. Please note that we require the following notice for these types of vault. And in NY (http://www.isnf.org/Documents/GuideToMuslimFuneralsInWesternNewYork.pdf http://www.isnf.org/Documents/GuideToMuslimFuneralsInWestern...) you are charged extra for not having a lining on the grave. "A concrete or other permanent outer burial container is not required, but there is an additional charge for a burial without an outer burial container."
    - ComputerGuru 11y ago
      Absolutely positive, I've been to quite a few. You can refer to Wikipedia, a quick glance shows it to be in line with what I was saying: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_funeral#Enshrouding_the_deceased https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_funeral#Enshrouding_th... The UK burial section for Muslims might be for offshoots or sects; for example, I do not know if Shiaa Muslims adhere to the same. Or it could be like here in the US: government regulations say you can't bury people sans-casket, so it could be "these (and only these) are your options."
fizixer 11y ago
I'm starting to believe that every form of burial other than cryonics is unethical. As in you are taking away an opportunity from that human to have another shot at life.
- davegardner 11y ago
  The big assumption you're making is that everyone would want another shot at life. I'd be surprised if that were universally true.
  - krapp 11y ago
    No, the big assumption here is that cryonics will ever work.
  - rixed 11y ago
    Or that anyone in the future would want anyone of us have another shot at life.
- URSpider94 11y ago
  What a tremendous waste of space and energy. Millions of people die every year, where would we store them all? And, even if we do later figure out how to recover people from cryonic storage, who knows what pre-treatment will be required to make them eligible for re-animation?
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Would you be okay with storing my genetic code, cyropreserving only my brain, and then growing me a new body in 100-500 years when we've got reanimation down cold (no pun intended)? I'm fine with being stored in a robotic facility on Mars, the dark side of the Moon, or even at a Lagrange point; anywhere where passive physics can be used to ensure the appropriate temperature is maintained.
    - zo1 11y ago
      If you can't afford a full-body cryo-preservation, you can get a "discount" version by only cryo-preserving your head.
cmurf 11y ago
Carrion. Just toss me out into the desert.
sandGorgon 11y ago
In my last startup, my primary product was a CRM of sorts for the US funeral industry. Coming from Hindu country, I was kinda puzzled on why does one need CRM and accounting systems in deathcare over a period of 30 years - think of one "lead" changing states for 30 years. That is until I realized that the primary business of deathcare in the US revolves around real estate. People want to be buried under a tree on top of the hill with the gentle sea breeze.. And not near a place where a dig can take a dump. Very surprising.. And IMHO wasteful for someone like me, who admittedly belongs to another belief. Also, since a lot if people have written about this, the Parsis (a community in India who trace their descent from Iran) feed their dead to vultures. Sadly, Mumbai don't have too many vultures... So now, they are mandated by law to cremate them.

38 points by nols 11y ago

rl3 11y ago

>After twenty minutes or so, he placed them in his bone press, turning them to dust before wheeling in the second body. That seems like such a waste. If it were me, I'd want my bones artificially reconnected to one another, then my skeleton donated to a comedy club or something. No reason to stop having fun just because you're dead.

zck 11y ago
The comedian/improviser Del Close willed his skull to a theatre to be in Hamlet (http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/as-del-lay-dying/Content?oid=1109931 http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/as-del-lay-dying/Conten...): > "I give my skull to the Goodman Theatre, for a production of Hamlet in which to play Yorick, or for any other purposes the Goodman Theatre deems appropriate." At a press conference on July 1, 1999, Charna gave Robert Falls, the Goodman's artistic director, a skull resting on a red velvet cushion inside a Lucite box. Falls held out the skull in his right hand and spoke. "Alas, poor Del! I knew him, Horatio: A fellow of infinite jest..." > But the skull wasn't Del's. Charna came clean in the October 9, 2006, issue of the New Yorker. After Del died, hospital personnel laughed at her request to remove the head, suggesting that she contact the Illinois Society of Pathologists. They too ultimately refused. After two days, she reluctantly had the body cremated in its entirety. Then she went skull shopping at the Anatomical Chart Company in Skokie. She purchased a skull there, and to make it resemble Del's she and her sister pulled out as many teeth as they could manage before turning it over to the Goodman. > The truth doesn't seem to matter to most of those who knew him. Robert Falls still keeps the skull on his bookshelf. The attitude of most of Del's friends is that if it wasn't originally Del's skull, it is now.
- rl3 11y ago
  I read the full story and quite enjoyed it, thanks for the link.

jaysoncena 11y ago

Isn't this similar to what cartels does to dispose bodies?

lighttower 11y ago
that's exactly what I was wondering. except I thought their system dissolved bones too. I'm thinking of the story from Atlantic about the DEA's taking down a Mexican cartel that dissolved many of the victims in what they called "soup"
huherto 11y ago
Don't know if it is an urban legend. They have tigers or hogs to dispose of the bodies. Source: I live in cartel land.
scurvy 11y ago
Yep. El Pozolero was famous (infamous?) for this. [0] [0] http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/04/el-pozolero-legacy-of-death-by-tijuanas.html http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/04/el-pozolero-legacy-of-...

Killah911 11y ago

How about just burying the body, no embalming fluid, no casket etc & letting it decompose. Is that harmful to the environment?

ComputerGuru 11y ago
This is the norm in Arab/Muslim countries where their doctrine instructs that the (naked) dead should be covered only in a simple, white cotton shroud and buried six feet under; caskets and embalming fluids are not used. (Hence the Islamic requirement for a speedy (same day if possible) burial, no wake, etc.) In similar vein, mausoleums, raised tombstones, and cemetery shrines are also forbidden (the overall theme is "we are all equal in death"). The net result is that cemeteries are "reusable" and some of the most-popular in Saudi Arabia ("jannatul baqee'" a là Arlington Cemetery) are reused/recycled every so many decades (or is it once a century, once the denizens are forgotten/no longer visited?).
- pascalmemories 11y ago
  Are you sure about that ? http://www.bury.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4013&p=0 http://www.bury.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4013&p=0 Specifically discussing Moslem burials, offers : Types of graves available Timber, brick or concrete vaults On request, graves will be lined with timber, brick or concrete breeze blocks to form an inner shell in the grave space. Please note that we require the following notice for these types of vault. And in NY (http://www.isnf.org/Documents/GuideToMuslimFuneralsInWesternNewYork.pdf http://www.isnf.org/Documents/GuideToMuslimFuneralsInWestern...) you are charged extra for not having a lining on the grave. "A concrete or other permanent outer burial container is not required, but there is an additional charge for a burial without an outer burial container."
  - ComputerGuru 11y ago
    Absolutely positive, I've been to quite a few. You can refer to Wikipedia, a quick glance shows it to be in line with what I was saying: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_funeral#Enshrouding_the_deceased https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_funeral#Enshrouding_th... The UK burial section for Muslims might be for offshoots or sects; for example, I do not know if Shiaa Muslims adhere to the same. Or it could be like here in the US: government regulations say you can't bury people sans-casket, so it could be "these (and only these) are your options."

fizixer 11y ago

I'm starting to believe that every form of burial other than cryonics is unethical. As in you are taking away an opportunity from that human to have another shot at life.

davegardner 11y ago
The big assumption you're making is that everyone would want another shot at life. I'd be surprised if that were universally true.
- krapp 11y ago
  No, the big assumption here is that cryonics will ever work.
- rixed 11y ago
  Or that anyone in the future would want anyone of us have another shot at life.
URSpider94 11y ago
What a tremendous waste of space and energy. Millions of people die every year, where would we store them all? And, even if we do later figure out how to recover people from cryonic storage, who knows what pre-treatment will be required to make them eligible for re-animation?
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Would you be okay with storing my genetic code, cyropreserving only my brain, and then growing me a new body in 100-500 years when we've got reanimation down cold (no pun intended)? I'm fine with being stored in a robotic facility on Mars, the dark side of the Moon, or even at a Lagrange point; anywhere where passive physics can be used to ensure the appropriate temperature is maintained.
  - zo1 11y ago
    If you can't afford a full-body cryo-preservation, you can get a "discount" version by only cryo-preserving your head.

cmurf 11y ago

Carrion. Just toss me out into the desert.

sandGorgon 11y ago

In my last startup, my primary product was a CRM of sorts for the US funeral industry. Coming from Hindu country, I was kinda puzzled on why does one need CRM and accounting systems in deathcare over a period of 30 years - think of one "lead" changing states for 30 years. That is until I realized that the primary business of deathcare in the US revolves around real estate. People want to be buried under a tree on top of the hill with the gentle sea breeze.. And not near a place where a dig can take a dump. Very surprising.. And IMHO wasteful for someone like me, who admittedly belongs to another belief. Also, since a lot if people have written about this, the Parsis (a community in India who trace their descent from Iran) feed their dead to vultures. Sadly, Mumbai don't have too many vultures... So now, they are mandated by law to cremate them.