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Isn't it interesting how we immediately get uncomfortable with that thought? I’m sure I’m not the only one. Logically, there’s no reason to get upset about bod

by KMnO4 3y ago

Isn't it interesting how we immediately get uncomfortable with that thought? I’m sure I’m not the only one. Logically, there’s no reason to get upset about bodies being ground up after they’re dead (since, well, they’re dead). But something about the (cultural?) sanctity of death and burial turns a whole lot of gears in my brain that I can’t explain.

orbital-decay 3y ago
That's purely cultural - sky burial is a thing in some parts of the world.
- boulos 3y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial For those that don't know the term
vore 3y ago
Personally, I feel like I'm not any more uncomfortable with it anymore than I am with cremation – both would be pretty gnarly if they happened to you if you were alive!
- hunter2_ 3y ago
  If we're using applied while alive as a guide, burial might be the worst on account of duration...
jeffrallen 3y ago
I can't explain it either, but I'm the total opposite of you. My body will be trash, do whatever with it. Compost me, who cares. My spirit will live in the memories of others, which is why the things I do and say now are important. Hofstadter explains this concept of self, spirit, and memory in I am a Strange Loop: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop
jabroni_salad 3y ago
Funerals are for the living. just put me in the trash
- oh_sigh 3y ago
  Not sure if Frank Reynolds or Diogenes of Sinope. Actually, maybe I know the answer based on that awesome word in your username.
  - TimesOldRoman 3y ago
    Same person.
karmakurtisaani 3y ago
I've told my family they can leave my corpse in the forest for the wolves to eat, or roll it in a carpet and throw down a bridge, don't care one way or the other. So yeah, cultural sanctity of death is indeed interesting.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  Wolves don't eat carrion as far as I'm aware, so you would be not helping the wolves if that's your goal. Perhaps taking long night-time walks in the forest would be go down better? As for the bridge idea, I think the officers in charge of silt removal would not appreciate your legacy either. I think cemeteries perform a rather useful function which is closer to waste disposal than ritual - the ritual is to soften the blow of that impersonal, utilitarian attitude to death.
  - karmakurtisaani 3y ago
    > Wolves don't eat carrion as far as I'm aware [...] As for the bridge idea, I think the officers in charge of silt removal would not appreciate your legacy either. The beauty of the plan is that I would not have to worry about any of these.
    - TheCleric 3y ago
      Death rites are not for the benefit of the deceased.
- onychomys 3y ago
  I keep telling my kids that they should wrap me in linen and dump me into a silty lake so that I have the best chance to fossilize, but they go on and on about "respect for the dead" and "police" and whatnot so I'll probably just end up in a box.
  - Loughla 3y ago
    My standing orders are to donate whatever organs/pieces that are still viable after I've finished trying to destroy them with my lifestyle. Take the rest and wrap it in linen and bury it without a box in the backyard. We have registered with the county as having grave sites, so it's perfectly legal. I tell them that I want simple with my remains, don't go nuts. That way you can spend all that extra money on a 30 foot marble statue of a sword wielding archangel Michael that shoots fire and shouts my name occasionally.
yard2010 3y ago
The thing is, it doesn't matter to the dead, but has psychological and physiological implications on the living :)
rootusrootus 3y ago
Even cremation, common though it is, weirds me out. I won't make any claims to it being a rational thought process, either. Dead is dead. But there's something about eliminating the form of the body that just makes me feel unwell. I didn't even know I would feel that way until years ago when my little brother passed away and was then cremated. The moment I found out he had been cremated was more emotional than I'd have thought. It wasn't quite as bad when my mom recently died and was also cremated, I knew what to expect, but still. I occasionally go to my father's grave (not cremated) and feel as if I can talk to him. No such delusion is possible when I go to my mom's grave site. I'm weird. No denying that.
- ericmcer 3y ago
  Growing up we always buried pets when they passed and the ritual was somewhat soothing. Digging the hole yourself was part of the final rite. When my partners cat got euthanized she let the vet just walk away with the body for cremation and we got a little box of (hopefully the cats) ashes a few weeks later. Felt gross to me but she didn't want to touch the body and was fine having that sterile veterinary room be the last time she saw her.
  - 6345dhjdsf 3y ago
    Ten days ago my mate's dog died. I was so very fond of that absurd little creature. I've lost very few people that I care about so I don't have much to compare with, but the little creature's death hit me really so hard, more so than with any person. I have heard that the death of a pet can hit harder than that of a person, and that's what I seem to have found much to my astonishment. Has anyone found the same?
    - jemmyw 3y ago
      I've lost many pets over the years and my father, and grandparents I was close to. I think it depends on the circumstance. Losing a pet unexpectedly is worse than losing a grandparent to old age. A pet dying of old age is a mix of grief and relief (especially if you have to make the decision). My father died suddenly of a heart attack, that was worse than losing any of my pets, but it was a more amorphous pain, spread out over time. We're with our pets a lot more than with extended family so it makes sense that a pet dying can be more intense than losing a friend or family member who does not live with you.
voisin 3y ago
We just need a nice term, like Cremation. If we said “we just need to toss the body in a furnace and light it on fire”, we’d get equally squeamish. Perhaps we should say “as long as we brecciate the body, it will biodegrade quickly”

by KMnO4 3y ago

orbital-decay 3y ago

That's purely cultural - sky burial is a thing in some parts of the world.

boulos 3y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial For those that don't know the term

vore 3y ago

Personally, I feel like I'm not any more uncomfortable with it anymore than I am with cremation – both would be pretty gnarly if they happened to you if you were alive!

hunter2_ 3y ago
If we're using applied while alive as a guide, burial might be the worst on account of duration...

jeffrallen 3y ago

I can't explain it either, but I'm the total opposite of you. My body will be trash, do whatever with it. Compost me, who cares. My spirit will live in the memories of others, which is why the things I do and say now are important. Hofstadter explains this concept of self, spirit, and memory in I am a Strange Loop: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop

jabroni_salad 3y ago

Funerals are for the living. just put me in the trash

oh_sigh 3y ago
Not sure if Frank Reynolds or Diogenes of Sinope. Actually, maybe I know the answer based on that awesome word in your username.
- TimesOldRoman 3y ago
  Same person.

karmakurtisaani 3y ago

I've told my family they can leave my corpse in the forest for the wolves to eat, or roll it in a carpet and throw down a bridge, don't care one way or the other. So yeah, cultural sanctity of death is indeed interesting.

seabass-labrax 3y ago
Wolves don't eat carrion as far as I'm aware, so you would be not helping the wolves if that's your goal. Perhaps taking long night-time walks in the forest would be go down better? As for the bridge idea, I think the officers in charge of silt removal would not appreciate your legacy either. I think cemeteries perform a rather useful function which is closer to waste disposal than ritual - the ritual is to soften the blow of that impersonal, utilitarian attitude to death.
- karmakurtisaani 3y ago
  > Wolves don't eat carrion as far as I'm aware [...] As for the bridge idea, I think the officers in charge of silt removal would not appreciate your legacy either. The beauty of the plan is that I would not have to worry about any of these.
  - TheCleric 3y ago
    Death rites are not for the benefit of the deceased.
onychomys 3y ago
I keep telling my kids that they should wrap me in linen and dump me into a silty lake so that I have the best chance to fossilize, but they go on and on about "respect for the dead" and "police" and whatnot so I'll probably just end up in a box.
- Loughla 3y ago
  My standing orders are to donate whatever organs/pieces that are still viable after I've finished trying to destroy them with my lifestyle. Take the rest and wrap it in linen and bury it without a box in the backyard. We have registered with the county as having grave sites, so it's perfectly legal. I tell them that I want simple with my remains, don't go nuts. That way you can spend all that extra money on a 30 foot marble statue of a sword wielding archangel Michael that shoots fire and shouts my name occasionally.

yard2010 3y ago

The thing is, it doesn't matter to the dead, but has psychological and physiological implications on the living :)

rootusrootus 3y ago

Even cremation, common though it is, weirds me out. I won't make any claims to it being a rational thought process, either. Dead is dead. But there's something about eliminating the form of the body that just makes me feel unwell. I didn't even know I would feel that way until years ago when my little brother passed away and was then cremated. The moment I found out he had been cremated was more emotional than I'd have thought. It wasn't quite as bad when my mom recently died and was also cremated, I knew what to expect, but still. I occasionally go to my father's grave (not cremated) and feel as if I can talk to him. No such delusion is possible when I go to my mom's grave site. I'm weird. No denying that.

ericmcer 3y ago
Growing up we always buried pets when they passed and the ritual was somewhat soothing. Digging the hole yourself was part of the final rite. When my partners cat got euthanized she let the vet just walk away with the body for cremation and we got a little box of (hopefully the cats) ashes a few weeks later. Felt gross to me but she didn't want to touch the body and was fine having that sterile veterinary room be the last time she saw her.
- 6345dhjdsf 3y ago
  Ten days ago my mate's dog died. I was so very fond of that absurd little creature. I've lost very few people that I care about so I don't have much to compare with, but the little creature's death hit me really so hard, more so than with any person. I have heard that the death of a pet can hit harder than that of a person, and that's what I seem to have found much to my astonishment. Has anyone found the same?
  - jemmyw 3y ago
    I've lost many pets over the years and my father, and grandparents I was close to. I think it depends on the circumstance. Losing a pet unexpectedly is worse than losing a grandparent to old age. A pet dying of old age is a mix of grief and relief (especially if you have to make the decision). My father died suddenly of a heart attack, that was worse than losing any of my pets, but it was a more amorphous pain, spread out over time. We're with our pets a lot more than with extended family so it makes sense that a pet dying can be more intense than losing a friend or family member who does not live with you.

voisin 3y ago

We just need a nice term, like Cremation. If we said “we just need to toss the body in a furnace and light it on fire”, we’d get equally squeamish. Perhaps we should say “as long as we brecciate the body, it will biodegrade quickly”