Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
Posts: 646
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Post by Beboots on Jun 13, 2005 21:29:58 GMT -5
I'm feeling rather odd today, and tired, and I had one of those thoughts one has when one is both tired and feeling odd: what exactly is death? I was thinking about it, so I looked up the definition of it on wikipedia (that's an online encycopedia) : "Death is either the cessation of life in a living organism or the state of the organism after that event." Well, that didn't really answer my question. I mean, what exactly is the cessation of life? ...This is too deep to explain all at once. ; I can't really think right now (not in English, anyway), so I'll be back later to try to continue this line of thought. Comments? Got your own opinion of Death? Or even have a better definition that the one above?
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
Posts: 646
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Post by Beboots on Jun 14, 2005 7:50:51 GMT -5
Well, now that I don't have my sister breathing down my neck, waiting to get on the computer, I can try to continue this line of thought. ^_^ All right - cessation of life. That's the part I'm really kind of confused about. I mean, if you're stabbed, you could bleed "to death" - but what does that really mean? Until your heart stops? But your cells and tissue and stuff are still alive -- at least for a little bit. Why don't they die when you do? (Okay, now I have a mental image of someone being stabbed and going up in a puff of smoke. ; ) I know that living things don't rot (usually), but corpses do (man, that sounds morbid). Why is that? This sort of stuff can make people uncomfortable, but I am genuinely curious. Don't worry, I'm not going to go all psyco-killer on you guys, and going out to kill people just to observe death. Any thoughts? Even if it's just a statement of how you want your remains to be disposed of (for example, burried, cremated, or even mummified), and why, this'd still be an interesting discussion. ^_^
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Post by RandallBoggs on Jun 14, 2005 9:48:47 GMT -5
Death is when you body accepts to end....
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Post by lizardgirl on Jun 14, 2005 10:28:07 GMT -5
I think the second you die is the second your heart stops- I know that some cells and stuff carry on living after your heart has stopped, but once it has stopped, it can't start again (unless you're in hospital or something) and without your heart you can't survive. Also, there has to be some kind of moment of death, and I think that when your heart stops, that's it. I guess you could also call the point of death the second you stop being able to consiously think.
I, personally, would prefer to be cremated than being burried, simply because I think cemetarys are a waste of space. I'd want my ashes scattered...somewhere (I'll decide later) and then that'd be it- no wasted time on things like gravestones and stuff, since that's exactly what it is, in my opinion- a waste of time.
Oh, and I have no idea why we don't rot when we're alive- I'm not that clever. ;D
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Post by lilbandit on Jun 14, 2005 12:24:13 GMT -5
You rot when you're dead because basically all organs have stopped working; therefore there is no blood or oxygen running through the body that will keep renewing cells. The body is then vulnerable to attack from bacteria and such which eat away at the body. Regarding this, I would agree with Lizard-Girl that we *literally* die when our heart stops. And yeah, doesn't hair grow a little while longer after death? But then you could argue about people being clinically dead. And then you get into arguments about euthunasia and whether its right to terminate a life which is more or less "dead". I personally believe a person is dead when the brain ceases to function and they are reduced to a vegtable. I know the body is still in order, but the mind is just not there. And a person in that state cannot realise this so therefore they really cannot appreciate life and actually live....ummm if that makes sense at all. but thats a totally different thing, and i apologise I would also like to be cremated. much preferred than being buried six-feet under. not that i'd be around to experience it, of course xxx
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
Posts: 646
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Post by Beboots on Jun 14, 2005 16:14:04 GMT -5
Well, I believe that someone's dead when their brain stops - you can restart the heart (you know, give 'em a jolt of electricity when someone has a heart attack), but once the brain stops functioning, that's it. I was having a similar conversation with a friend of mine at school, and he compared live and death to heat and cold. What's cold? The absence of heat. What's death? The absence of life. Bleh, doesn't quite answer my question. So... if you were in a coma and/or quadrapalegic, would you want your life prolonged indefinitely? (You know, the "miracle of modern medicine") I, personally, would wanto be unplugged, you know? If I had absolutely no hope of recovery (like, I'm clinically brain-dead, or something), I wouldn't want to live (if you could call that "living"). I think that the minute I become a permanant drain on society, with no possible reedeeming factors whatsoever, is the moment I really need to die. *nods*
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Post by Mirage on Jun 14, 2005 16:53:30 GMT -5
I'm agreeing with Beboots' last comment; when someone's brain-dead, then they're dead. And with the second question, about would you want to be unplugged? Yeah. If I was just going to exist as a vegetable with no hope of recovery, I wouldn't want to go on that way. As far as what you'd want done with yourself after death...hmm...I guess buried. Maybe grave markers and cemeteries ARE a waste of time, and the dead don't care about flowers and things, only the living do....but I've always been strangely attracted to graveyards (I'm kinda morbid)...and nicely decorated memorials with a phrase or something always seem like a good old-fashioned way of commemorating someone...especially if the site is located in a place that was "special" to the person.
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Igg
Randall's Skivvy (0-299)
Bless me father, I did an original sin. I poked a badger with a spoon.
Posts: 49
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Post by Igg on Jun 14, 2005 17:45:03 GMT -5
Death, in my opinion, is when your body shuts down completely, and your soul goes wherever it goes (Heaven, Hell, Nirvana, Valhalla, that 40 virgins thing, combines with The Force, etc) The soul goes on to... I don't know what you'd call it... an "unlife" I guess, but your body has stopped functioning.
If you are brain dead... I guess your soul is stuck or something, because the 'lower' brain bits (breathing, blinking, etc.) are still working, even if the 'higher' brain bits (conscious thought) are essentially gone.
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ScrewyOldDame
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
The classes that wash most are those that work least.
Posts: 402
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Post by ScrewyOldDame on Jun 14, 2005 23:36:51 GMT -5
HEHE. Let's hear Lauren gush. Personally, I am a strong believer in Heaven and Hell. I believe our lives are mere blips in the Universe and great plan o' things. Our first priority life will be in Heaven or the other place, and eventually on the new world God will create.
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Post by RandallBoggs on Jun 15, 2005 9:36:12 GMT -5
It's really judgemental HOW death is really. What happens afterward? It's not as if your stuck in the ground with your thoughts is it? Maybe not. Is it really true you are destined to live in one of two unforseen worlds? And why is Heaven so striked? Even it knows people are not perfect. So do a majority just drop to the bowls of heck? Who can say what really happens. Perhaps we are reborn again. Our memories are tainted and we are born again anew. We go through life never knowing that possibly every person around us was dead before. Death happens when the body gives up, and it is the souls turn for full command. But what happens when death does occur? And you can't be saved? ......Did you bring this up from your fanfic Beboots?
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Post by lizardgirl on Jun 15, 2005 10:08:48 GMT -5
Interesting convo. ;D Continuing on from the whole 'if you're brain-dead but are still techinically living, would you want to carry on living' thing, my gran has a severe case of dementia, so she now just sits there, day in day out, not knowing what's going on. If I knew that I would someday be in her position, I'd prefer to be dead properly, rather than live without taking things in.
I guess you can also say, if you believe it, that death is when your soul leaves your body. *shrugs*
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Post by RandallBoggs on Jun 15, 2005 10:15:10 GMT -5
It's like for Kingdom Hearts....
The body is a mere shell for the heart and soul.....what happens when the body is destroyed. Does the heart go into the dark or to the light? Does it depend on the person, or is it fate. Or.....will they venture into Twilight?
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Post by lizardgirl on Jun 15, 2005 11:45:00 GMT -5
Like the religion that believes that your life exists only because your soul, which was created by Gaia, Mother Earth, which lives in your body and experiances everything that happens to you, can return to its creator to tell it of all that's happened.
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Post by Ranger Parsec on Jun 15, 2005 12:11:20 GMT -5
Personally, I am a strong believer in Heaven and Hell. I believe our lives are mere blips in the Universe and great plan o' things. Our first priority life will be in Heaven or the other place, and eventually on the new world God will create. Ditto. ^_^ I solidly believe in the same thing.
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Beboots
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a plague in Equatorial Guinea that I have to attend.
Posts: 646
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Post by Beboots on Jun 15, 2005 18:51:36 GMT -5
What happens afterward? It's not as if your stuck in the ground with your thoughts is it? That's the only thing I really fear about death. I know I shouldn't be afraid of death (everybody dies eventually), but I have no clue what happens at death. I mean, nobody really knows what happens (because none of the dead have come back and told us about the experience... yet. *X-files music*). Do we just go out like a light? (Oh, please, no!) I can't even immagine oblivion - no thoughts, non-existance. I think the coolest thing after death would be reincarnation, though. You know, come back as something else - like a cat. You know, sleep all day, eat, use the litterbox, lick yourself, go back to sleep, purr. And different religions have different opinions on what's supposed to be done with the bodies after death -- what if that has something to do with where you go afterwards? Like, your soul can't enter Heaven (or where-ever) if a trace of your body still exists (perhaps on the principle that you've now left the physical plane behind), in which case I'd like to be cremated. However, what if the ancient Egyptians were right and you can exist in the afterlife only if your body is preserved? If I had my body cremated, would I be *strikes dramatic angsty pose* cursed to wander the earth for all eternity? Oh, and I heard a quote somewhere, that the moment you die is the moment that the last person who remembered you dies. ...Deep. ^_^ ......Did you bring this up from your fanfic Beboots? Surprisingly, I actually didn't. ; ...Although, if someone here hasn't already read it, I want to poke them to read it. ^_^ *pokes*
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