 | dead bodies everywhere -or- the circle of life |
had this thought in the mall today.
So something can’t come from nothing, and there obviously is a limited amount of “stuff” in the universe. You need to keep that in mind if you are to understand where i am going with this.
when people die, we put them in a box or some other means of keeping their body away from the natural elements. and in most cases, we succeed in removing any access that maggots, or other natural decomposition that would take on the body. And our bodies are made up of the “stuff” of the universe, and everytime we bury someone, we are taking “stuff” out of the circle of life.
So what are the effects then? living things depend on “stuff” for life. When we take out “stuff” from the circle of life, we are pulling out that first dominoe. Now a fly will not lay eggs on that body. Now maggots will not feed on our flesh. now a bird will not eat that maggot. now an animal will not eat that bird. Now the soil will not have nutrients to keep in fertile. now a plant will not grow there. now a bee will not pull pollen from that plant. now that bee will not make a hive. and pulling out one body, which is made up of nature’s “stuff” seems pretty important. And perhaps this can even explain the extinction of some animals. Who is to say that had we not practiced burial or cremation, that people’s bodies would not have, in some indirect or direct way, fed a dodo bird. (continued) and if we continue on this practice of “banking” the stuff of life, and we assume there really is no magic machine that can create new “stuff” and pump it back into the cycle, then it is fair to say, at some point in time, we will run out of “stuff.” What then? Perhaps we will never reach that point, but rather at a point of equilibrium, where we are consistently eating ourselves, or one another.
Now you may say, “Josh, our bodies are sacred, and that is why we bury the dead, we deserve to respect those that die.” And to that, i would remind you that respect and something being deemed as sacred are human ideas. And, unfortunately, nature does not conform to our ideas. And it is because of that, that we can not enforce our ideas. Nature ignores our request, and continues about it’s business. And for that reason, we can not chose to oppose nature, because it is a losing battle.
Which leads me to MY conclusion, which is, when i die, i do not want to be burried. rather, i want to give back to what had given to me. I want to feed a racoon. I want to have a sunflower grow in my spot. I want to have bugs inhabit my carcus. Because, It is my desire to cause life, not prevent it.
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Comment from jwoair23
Time February 27, 2004 at 11:14 am
When new babies are born new “stuff” is created.
Comment from Heavy_Equipment
Time February 27, 2004 at 1:37 pm
The burial we have now is pretty modern in the grander scheme of things. 20th century.
Prior to that there was the pine box, and before that, the body was laid in the ground.
The whole sealed up and buried concept doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as it should be, in my opinion.
I think cremation is the way to go.
Religion and beliefs permitting.
Comment from Heavy_Equipment
Time February 27, 2004 at 1:37 pm
The burial we have now is pretty modern in the grander scheme of things. 20th century.
Prior to that there was the pine box, and before that, the body was laid in the ground.
The whole sealed up and buried concept doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as it should be, in my opinion.
I think cremation is the way to go.
Religion and beliefs permitting.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time February 27, 2004 at 5:12 pm
actually, no, it’s not. “stuff” is transformed. A baby comes from the mother’s flesh, and the mother’s flesh comes from what she eats and drinks, and her food comes from animals and plants. ecetera ecetera.
And to go one step further, birth and other forms of tranforming and re-using “stuff” are what need “stuff” to be. And when that baby grows old and dies, it’s stuff it taken out of the loop.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time February 27, 2004 at 5:12 pm
actually, no, it’s not. “stuff” is transformed. A baby comes from the mother’s flesh, and the mother’s flesh comes from what she eats and drinks, and her food comes from animals and plants. ecetera ecetera.
And to go one step further, birth and other forms of tranforming and re-using “stuff” are what need “stuff” to be. And when that baby grows old and dies, it’s stuff it taken out of the loop.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time February 29, 2004 at 9:37 pm
I’d worry more about big plastic garbage bags full of “stuff” than I would about caskets. Given the infinitely many stars and asteroids and “stuff” in the universe, the sun will probably burn out long before we deplete the matter in the universe.
Sounds like a spinoff from the Butterfly Effect.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time February 29, 2004 at 9:37 pm
I’d worry more about big plastic garbage bags full of “stuff” than I would about caskets. Given the infinitely many stars and asteroids and “stuff” in the universe, the sun will probably burn out long before we deplete the matter in the universe.
Sounds like a spinoff from the Butterfly Effect.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time February 29, 2004 at 9:39 pm
PS. I read that all of the people who have ever died can be buried in the panhandle of Texas. Nonetheless, cremation is certainly a valid form of body disposal.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time February 29, 2004 at 9:39 pm
PS. I read that all of the people who have ever died can be buried in the panhandle of Texas. Nonetheless, cremation is certainly a valid form of body disposal.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time March 1, 2004 at 3:12 pm
just so everyone knows, i must have left myself logged in at home, and my mother (or someone else) posted the bottom 2 messages. scared me for a second there, thought i had been hacked. would have been weird to hack me and just post those 2 messages, but the IP is a cobweb IP. so, those 2 messages arent mine.
Comment from sixf00t4
Time March 1, 2004 at 3:12 pm
just so everyone knows, i must have left myself logged in at home, and my mother (or someone else) posted the bottom 2 messages. scared me for a second there, thought i had been hacked. would have been weird to hack me and just post those 2 messages, but the IP is a cobweb IP. so, those 2 messages arent mine.
Comment from jwoair23
Time February 27, 2004 at 11:14 am
When new babies are born new “stuff” is created.