5 ms·

Inventor: "No more trouble than putting a fence post in" haha. Something about being buried in the upright position instead of laying down seems... not very res

by gleenn 5y ago

Inventor: "No more trouble than putting a fence post in" haha. Something about being buried in the upright position instead of laying down seems... not very restful. I shudder to think how a corpse in the upright position would decompose differently.

cortesoft 5y ago
I don't think a corpse cares how it rests
- hamburglar 5y ago
  Burial ceremonies and the idea that the body is "at rest" is for the benefit of the living, not the deceased.
dylan604 5y ago
Phrases like "ashes to ashes", "dust to dust", or "worm food" seem so out of place now with people being buried in coffins that don't allow for the worms to feed or the ashes and/or dust to mingle with the rest of the ashes/dust. The whole being buried thing just seems so illogical to me. I know it means different things to different people, but I just can't wrap my head around its purpose.
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  > but I just can't wrap my head around its purpose. Cultural: To have a place to visit the deceased that is strongly associated with them, as their body is literally there (especially for ancestors). Sanitation: To keep the rotting corpse away from people and avoid spreading disease or attracting predators and vermin.
  - makeitdouble 5y ago
    Both aspects are still there when you incinerate the body (arguably ashes will stay longer there than when they’re taken away in the soil)
    - Jtsummers 5y ago
      And? They asked why bury. Those are the main two reasons. That there is an alternative that offers similar results doesn’t invalidate those reasons or the choice to bury.
      - dylan604 5y ago
        I should revise my question. I get the burying part to an extent as the body does need to go somewhere, and being able to build funeral pyres isn't always an available option. However, I never understood the part of the coffin that prevents natural processes to occur. It all sounds like someone came up with a solution to a problem that didn't exist. Even for religions that believe in resurrections, do people think their corpses are going to be reanimated a la Lazurus or that an all knowing all powerful deity couldn't just create a new something? It's all just so logic defying.
        seanp2k2 5y ago
        > do people think their corpses are going to be reanimated a la Lazurus Literally, yes. This has some info on it from a company selling cremation services, so obvious bias: https://www.greencremationtexas.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-cremation/ https://www.greencremationtexas.com/what-does-the-bible-say-...
    - skocznymroczny 5y ago
      How do you know the ashes you receive are anything related to the original body and not just some random ashes meant as memorabilia? At least with a physical coffin you can inspect the insides and track it visually until it's buried.
- tomjakubowski 5y ago
  People don't like to see bodies go through decomposition, especially not loved ones. It's also bad for sanitation to leave bodies lying around. Burial rites are also a way to create a wedge to separate your culture from those that cremate bodies.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    Cremating bodies doesn't leave "waste" lying around either though. Can't get to ashes to ashes without fire.
- irrational 5y ago
  And yet, we know the people have been burying people for as far back as we can go. Are we too removed from it now that it seems strange to us? Maybe death has become too sterile and removed from our everyday existence. And modern medicine has made it so we don’t die as quickly as we used to.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    But in the days of "as far back as we can go", the non-Pharoh common people weren't buried in air tight sarcophagi like just about everyone is today. Back then, it was dig a hole and lay the body in, fill in the hole. Nature took care of the rest. Now, we're arrogantly thinking that someone's bones are going to be something someone some day wants to care about, so we better preserve them in a metal box. Yes, I'm being deliberately obtuse to try to demonstrate just how odd it is.
    - irrational 5y ago
      In ancient Egypt, the hole they dug was within their own homes. That is, they didn’t go out into the desert and bury people. It’s like everyone in your village was living and sleeping directly above their own personal graveyard. I find that to be odd.
- lmm 5y ago
  It's a ritual, a ceremony. Being arbitrary, expending effort on something quixotic, is part of its effectiveness.
jandrese 5y ago
You end up a pile of bones either way. The dead don't care. It is the living relatives that will balk.
hindsightbias 5y ago
Guy has obviously not put up a lot of fence posts.
JetAlone 5y ago
Yes, I think you've got a point. It doesn't exactly fit my own image of the word "repose", and there are probably plenty others who will feel similarly... It feels more like "waiting", like the imagery of the Terra Cotta Army.

by gleenn 5y ago

cortesoft 5y ago

I don't think a corpse cares how it rests

hamburglar 5y ago
Burial ceremonies and the idea that the body is "at rest" is for the benefit of the living, not the deceased.

dylan604 5y ago

Phrases like "ashes to ashes", "dust to dust", or "worm food" seem so out of place now with people being buried in coffins that don't allow for the worms to feed or the ashes and/or dust to mingle with the rest of the ashes/dust. The whole being buried thing just seems so illogical to me. I know it means different things to different people, but I just can't wrap my head around its purpose.

Jtsummers 5y ago
> but I just can't wrap my head around its purpose. Cultural: To have a place to visit the deceased that is strongly associated with them, as their body is literally there (especially for ancestors). Sanitation: To keep the rotting corpse away from people and avoid spreading disease or attracting predators and vermin.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  Both aspects are still there when you incinerate the body (arguably ashes will stay longer there than when they’re taken away in the soil)
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    And? They asked why bury. Those are the main two reasons. That there is an alternative that offers similar results doesn’t invalidate those reasons or the choice to bury.
    - dylan604 5y ago
      I should revise my question. I get the burying part to an extent as the body does need to go somewhere, and being able to build funeral pyres isn't always an available option. However, I never understood the part of the coffin that prevents natural processes to occur. It all sounds like someone came up with a solution to a problem that didn't exist. Even for religions that believe in resurrections, do people think their corpses are going to be reanimated a la Lazurus or that an all knowing all powerful deity couldn't just create a new something? It's all just so logic defying.
      - seanp2k2 5y ago
        > do people think their corpses are going to be reanimated a la Lazurus Literally, yes. This has some info on it from a company selling cremation services, so obvious bias: https://www.greencremationtexas.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-cremation/ https://www.greencremationtexas.com/what-does-the-bible-say-...
  - skocznymroczny 5y ago
    How do you know the ashes you receive are anything related to the original body and not just some random ashes meant as memorabilia? At least with a physical coffin you can inspect the insides and track it visually until it's buried.
tomjakubowski 5y ago
People don't like to see bodies go through decomposition, especially not loved ones. It's also bad for sanitation to leave bodies lying around. Burial rites are also a way to create a wedge to separate your culture from those that cremate bodies.
- dylan604 5y ago
  Cremating bodies doesn't leave "waste" lying around either though. Can't get to ashes to ashes without fire.
irrational 5y ago
And yet, we know the people have been burying people for as far back as we can go. Are we too removed from it now that it seems strange to us? Maybe death has become too sterile and removed from our everyday existence. And modern medicine has made it so we don’t die as quickly as we used to.
- dylan604 5y ago
  But in the days of "as far back as we can go", the non-Pharoh common people weren't buried in air tight sarcophagi like just about everyone is today. Back then, it was dig a hole and lay the body in, fill in the hole. Nature took care of the rest. Now, we're arrogantly thinking that someone's bones are going to be something someone some day wants to care about, so we better preserve them in a metal box. Yes, I'm being deliberately obtuse to try to demonstrate just how odd it is.
  - irrational 5y ago
    In ancient Egypt, the hole they dug was within their own homes. That is, they didn’t go out into the desert and bury people. It’s like everyone in your village was living and sleeping directly above their own personal graveyard. I find that to be odd.
lmm 5y ago
It's a ritual, a ceremony. Being arbitrary, expending effort on something quixotic, is part of its effectiveness.

jandrese 5y ago

You end up a pile of bones either way. The dead don't care. It is the living relatives that will balk.

hindsightbias 5y ago

Guy has obviously not put up a lot of fence posts.

JetAlone 5y ago

Yes, I think you've got a point. It doesn't exactly fit my own image of the word "repose", and there are probably plenty others who will feel similarly... It feels more like "waiting", like the imagery of the Terra Cotta Army.