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You won't care, but the living will. Funerals aren't meant for the deceased, they allow the living to mourn and move on. It may be irrational fears, but living
by rpigab 2y ago
You won't care, but the living will.
Funerals aren't meant for the deceased, they allow the living to mourn and move on.
It may be irrational fears, but living people often fear what's gonna happen to them after they die, and respect for people extends after they die for most people. Not for everyone, but this means that some will feel uncomfortable about sharing private stuff. And then there's also superstition.
- strken 2y agoSpeaking only for myself, it has been invaluable to have access to the private papers of people like my great grandfather. It provides a real connection to a man, time, and place which I couldn't know in person. Perhaps publishing everything is a step too far, but things like semi-private diaries from a war or a voyage --- intended for immediate family to read, but not for publication --- are often okay to publish within living memory of the deceased. Sufficiently chaste love letters seem to me to be okay after a long enough time has elapsed, too.
- Daub 2y agoMaybe the living will care, but maybe we should not care that they care. After he died, the entire erotic oevre of the artist William Turner was destroyed by his family on grounds of taste. If they were half as profound and amazing as his landscapes, then this was an act of profound desacration.