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As I understood it, the "ashes" you receive post-cremation are actually the ground remains of bones from all cremations that took place that day, and thus you c
by gpmcadam 13y ago
As I understood it, the "ashes" you receive post-cremation are actually the ground remains of bones from all cremations that took place that day, and thus you can't actually guarantee that it's "you" in the urn (or the tree), it's actually just a large collection of the people cremated that day.
Apart from that, I love this idea. It actually throws up all sorts of strange meta-physical questions about the self and who we really are.
Also, for added creepiness, could you be turned into, say, an orange grove? If you were, would the people eating the fruit be somehow digesting ... you? Strange.
- gtaylor 13y agoAs long as they got a few pieces of me in there, I'm cool with that. Maybe the best way to look at this is "Turn yourself and a bunch of other nice dead people into a tree".
- Sharlin 13y agoI'm probably being too prosaic, but do note that plants don't actually use any matter from the soil they grow on besides water plus some minerals and micronutrients. The carbon that constitutes most of the plant matter is literally taken out of thin air via photosynthesis. Also, most of the molecules that were a part of you a year ago are already a part of something or someone else.
- js2 13y agoObligatory link to Feynman's explanation: http://youtu.be/N1pIYI5JQLE http://youtu.be/N1pIYI5JQLE
- saraid216 13y agoIt's weird only if you start from being human. If you start from being, to reference the famous quote, a star, it gets rapidly less weird. Or more weird.
- johnjhayes 13y ago>>As I understood it, the "ashes" you receive post-cremation are actually the ground remains of bones from all cremations that took place that day While that is, unfortunately, pretty common for pet cremations it not supposed to be that way for humans. http://caringcremations.com/frequently-asked-questions-cremation-process#a4 http://caringcremations.com/frequently-asked-questions-crema...
- lucian1900 13y agoDoes it really matter, though? Even if they were more carefully selected, the ashes would still contain lots of atoms from other sources and lack lots of atoms.