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Aesop Poprock posted:I was planning on donating my body to science after I die but I’m not 100 on what they do if or when they’re done with you. I mean it won’t matter to me at that point and I guess it depends on what they use me for I think you can actually stipulate that sort of thing. Like you can specifically donate yourself to be dissected by a medical student then have your skeleton preserved to be a display one. Or you can just go "like just run some tests on me or eat me or something, I don't give a gently caress, I'll be dead and don't care what happens to my meat." Even so you can probably say "I want my bones preserved and donated to a school" and have it done. From what I've heard there are never enough so I'm sure there's some group somewhere that would be very happy to have your skeleton. When I get off my rear end about having my final will and testament done I want to have my bones hanging in an art school when I'm done with this body. I really don't give a poo poo what they do with the rest of it. I'm an organ donor too so if anybody can use any of the parts that still work when I'm done with them then hey, have at it. Busket Posket posted:Green burials — where the body is not embalmed, just wrapped in a shroud and buried a few feet down in a garden or grassy area so the byproducts are accessible to plant life — would be the ideal, but cremation is also becoming a lower-impact option with innovations like aqua cremation that uses water instead of fire to break down the body. American culture has this weird fear of death. Like you're supposed to be so terrified of dying that you should avoid it at all costs no matter what and never think about it. It's ridiculous because you're going to die some day. You don't get a choice in the matter; there will come a day when yesterday you were alive and today you are not. Better to tie up all the loose ends ahead of time so there's less bullshit involved when you finally do kick it. Nobody arguing over what to do with your corpse if there are multiple copies of a signed piece of paper that says "do this with my leftovers."
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Nov 20, 2018 10:53
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It's weird, too, because within living memory people usually took care of their own. My grandmother remembers when people prepared their kin for burial.
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Nov 20, 2018 11:01
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I’m more terrified about reincarnation being a thing. I at least hope there’s an opt out. Like my run was fun but one is good enough for me
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Nov 20, 2018 11:15
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Aesop Poprock posted:I’m more terrified about reincarnation being a thing. I at least hope there’s an opt out. Like my run was fun but one is good enough for me If reincarnation is a thing we part of us is eternal then it's all just one run, really. One long, crazy run that never ends. Randaconda posted:It's weird, too, because within living memory people usually took care of their own. My grandmother remembers when people prepared their kin for burial. American culture also assumes that death is something basically everybody fears. There are a lot of cultures that don't view a funeral as a sad event and death as a loss; they view a funeral as a celebration. It's "hey, that guy just died, let's all get together and celebrate all the poo poo he did along the way. His journey is over; let's be happy it happened at all." Until pretty recently western culture had that acceptance of death you're talking about; you comfort your friends and family in their last hours to ease their passing and accept that one day that will also happen to you. The memento mori was a major thing in art and the Catholic Church pretty heavily taught "don't get too attached to this life; it'll end some day." Now we put our elderly in homes and pretend they don't exist. Instead of actually dealing with death we pretend it won't happen.
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Nov 20, 2018 11:25
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You could always just drop off granny at a body farm! I feel like I should go read up on how reincarnation is supposed to work because I have a bunch of questions that are probably dumb, like how it works with humans repeatedly causing other species to go extinct, or where we'd all have reincarnated if the cold war had gone hot.
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Nov 20, 2018 11:57
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I wouldn’t donate my body at a body farm because forensics is so loving awful still and according to a girl I know who went there they haven’t changed their guidelines for forever
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Nov 20, 2018 12:15
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Busket Posket posted:That’s part of why the green death movement (with supporters like Ask A Mortician’s Caitlin Doughty) is heavily anti-embalming. Preservatives strong enough to arrest decay will leech into the surrounding soil poo poo, I'd have assumed that embalmed corpses would be buried in impermeable caskets. How can letting that stuff leach into the soil be legal?
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Nov 20, 2018 12:16
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uvar posted:You could always just drop off granny at a body farm! Seven billion cockroaches inheriting the earth...
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Nov 20, 2018 12:16
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ToxicSlurpee posted:It's ridiculous because you're going to die some day. You don't get a choice in the matter; there will come a day when yesterday you were alive and today you are not. Better to tie up all the loose ends ahead of time so there's less bullshit involved when you finally do kick it. Nobody arguing over what to do with your corpse if there are multiple copies of a signed piece of paper that says "do this with my leftovers." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuKB0_t3J0A
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Nov 20, 2018 12:40
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My inlaws informed us they are donating their bodies to science when they go. They didn't want a funeral or anything. They actually seemed surprised when I asked where their cremains were going to go when they were uh..finished. I asked if we could receive them so I could plant them or get a cement animal made from them or something. My mom in law was tickled and likes the idea of going into a rose bush or something. Otherwise they were just going to go and leave nothing behind.
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Nov 20, 2018 13:04
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The Lone Badger posted:poo poo, I'd have assumed that embalmed corpses would be buried in impermeable caskets. How can letting that stuff leach into the soil be legal? Embalming is so common in the US that many people believe it’s a required step of the process (it’s not), and actual airtight, weatherproof, foreverially-sealed caskets are far less common. They’re offered as the Cadillacs of caskets, to offer peace of mind to grieving families that no worms will dare to taint their loved one’s body so on Judgement Day or Ragnarok or Halloween or whenever some people think all the dead will rise, Meemaw will still be pristine and can stunt on her decomposing friends. If everyone got one, the funeral industry couldn’t claim it’s special and charge tens of thousands of dollars in guilt-money. Most caskets will crack a little and shift as the years go on and the earth settles, not to the degree that they fall apart, but they will allow bugs in (to eat the lining and clothing if the tissue is unappetizing) and fluids out. I think California is the only state that’s trying to address the issue by at least requiring periodic testing of cemetery runoff. Louisiana has less of an issue with leeching, as we have such a high water table so above-ground graves are more common, so the body is surrounded with cement, but then any time it floods with such force to crack open the tombs, you get warnings like “wear protective gear when walking through sewage or past graveyards to avoid skin irritation or infection.” Hand in hand with the “Americans fear death-talk” thing is that we generally see any legislative debate around cemeteries to be monstrous — the common refrain is “just let them rest!”
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Nov 20, 2018 13:24
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I'm basically Adam if he were a real person, crankier, worse looking, and less likable.
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Nov 20, 2018 13:27
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ToxicSlurpee posted:If reincarnation is a thing we part of us is eternal then it's all just one run, really. One long, crazy run that never ends. So reincarnation is just like Mr. Bones’ Wild Ride?
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Nov 20, 2018 13:41
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Aesop Poprock posted:I was planning on donating my body to science after I die but I’m not 100 on what they do if or when they’re done with you. I mean it won’t matter to me at that point and I guess it depends on what they use me for You need to read Mary Roach's book "Stiff" because the things they do with donated bodies is pretty wild and goes way beyond letting med students learn anatomy, stuff like using bodies as real crash test dummies. And as for death customs around the world that DON'T avoid mortality, Caitlin Doughty's "From Here to Eternity" is highly recommended. Open air cremations in Colorado, corpse hotels in Asia, sky burials, Dia de Muertos, all that good stuff. Fascinating and touching. e: does this thread need a recommended reading list? HelloIAmYourHeart has a new favorite as of 13:56 on Nov 20, 2018 |
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Nov 20, 2018 13:52
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I just don't get why you wouldn't have yourself cremated and then mixed into the mashed potatoes at your wake to gently caress with all your loved ones. Like, what was even the point in living at all?
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Nov 20, 2018 14:51
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Solice Kirsk posted:I just don't get why you wouldn't have yourself cremated and then mixed into the mashed potatoes at your wake to gently caress with all your loved ones. Like, what was even the point in living at all? The one I saw suggested was "cremated and the ashes poured into your friend's gas tank".
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Nov 20, 2018 15:15
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A little over 2 months ago I looked into donating my dad's body to science but there was a loving fee! So I ended up begging the forums to help me get this man, who I hadn't seen since I was 3 and suddenly had to make medical decisions for when he was braindead, cremated because the hospital was pressuring me to get rid of his body and the Gift Of Life would not accept his organs. In hindsight I think they were just pressuring me because he went there for help when he was suicidal and they turned him away so he ended up hanging himself in their parking structure. I guess that story fits the theme of this thread.
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Nov 20, 2018 15:26
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Escalating levels of hosed up, there. Denied psychological assistance! Allowed to attempt suicide on property! Estranged next-of-kin as sole end-of-life oversight! Fee for a charitable donation! gently caress the world.
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Nov 20, 2018 15:36
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And this is another thing Archaeologist find! Grave wax! When you chuck a body into an anaerobic pit sometimes it does wonderful things! https://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/new-morbid-terminology-grave-wax/ Of course you can get the other prize too a pit full of oozy goo.
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Nov 20, 2018 15:38
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StrixNebulosa posted:Seven billion cockroaches inheriting the earth... No the question is what would happen if humans were wipred out. 
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Nov 20, 2018 16:56
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I want my body intact long enough for the funeral, where I plan to have my coding spring-loaded so that I pop out at the first person who walks up to pay their respects. After that I dunno. Weekend at Bernie’s me until I start to smell then dump me at city hall or something.
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Nov 20, 2018 17:23
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:You need to read Mary Roach's book "Stiff" because the things they do with donated bodies is pretty wild and goes way beyond letting med students learn anatomy, stuff like using bodies as real crash test dummies. If I could choose I would do: 1: cadaver for use for medical/massage students 2: sky burial 3: bones used for individual use for anatomy classes
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Nov 20, 2018 17:24
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A lot of the perception that other cultures "celebrate" death is not quite accurate either and sort of an Americanized view that sadness and happiness are necessary opposites.
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Nov 20, 2018 17:33
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Randaconda posted:It's weird, too, because within living memory people usually took care of their own. My grandmother remembers when people prepared their kin for burial.
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Nov 20, 2018 17:33
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:You need to read Mary Roach's book "Stiff" because the things they do with donated bodies is pretty wild and goes way beyond letting med students learn anatomy, stuff like using bodies as real crash test dummies. I didn’t know what I wanted to happen to my body until now.
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Nov 20, 2018 17:56
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you could always do what this particular tribe in malaysia does and unbury the dead to live with them some more. caution for corpse pictures. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/death-dying-grief-funeral-ceremony-corpse/
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Nov 20, 2018 18:00
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I want some silliness done either with my remains or for the funeral. Like, launch my ashes from a catapult, but instead of sailing off into the sunset/ocean/whatever, the aim is a little off and the urn hits a tree and shatters. Something that'll make people crack up.
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Nov 20, 2018 18:03
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Your Gay Uncle posted:
When the relatives who got Dee Dee's cremains said they just flushed them down the toilet really hammered it home how they all felt about her. ToxicSlurpee posted:The memento mori was a major thing in art and the Catholic Church pretty heavily taught "don't get too attached to this life; it'll end some day." My family still does the in casket pictures. We look at it as here's the last photo we'll have of the deceased.
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Nov 20, 2018 18:35
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Peeny Cheez posted:Yes, well, some of us have lived for generations in places with indoor plumbing and zero chances of being killed by Pumpkinhead. The American funeral industry is surprisingly young.
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Nov 20, 2018 18:47
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DemonDarkhorse posted:you could always do what this particular tribe in malaysia does and unbury the dead to live with them some more. caution for corpse pictures. Just gonna leave this here: https://www.smm.org/catal/mysteries/burial_practices/
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Nov 20, 2018 18:48
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M_Sinistrari posted:
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Nov 20, 2018 18:48
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Unnerving body disposal chat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuxPVOsYt_I
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Nov 20, 2018 18:54
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I do sometimes think it’d be cool to come back as a tree or a caterpillar that’s probably just gonna be eaten but I wouldn’t even notice. But I feel like “middle class white gay American” is probably my high water mark if that’s how karma works and I don’t feel a need to redo it
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Nov 20, 2018 18:59
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Randaconda posted:The American funeral industry is surprisingly young. I say having done no research: I wonder how much of American funeral culture is due to our (government's) propensity for getting into overseas wars and the shock of WWI and WWII specifically, and families dealing with vast numbers of soldiers never making it home to be buried.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:11
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Randaconda posted:It's weird, too, because within living memory people usually took care of their own. My grandmother remembers when people prepared their kin for burial. It still happens. I tended my maternal grandmother's corpse. As in washed her face, combed her hair, put on a dress, laid her out in her coffin, arranged some nice flowers around her. The worst part was telling the funeral agent that Yes, I want to do this, now please leave me alone.15 years later granddad was dying, and hinted about, but never quite asked, if I would do it for him as well. Of course I did. My mum has made it VERY clear she does NOT want me to do her. OK, mum, I respect your choices.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:12
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BattyKiara posted:It still happens. I tended my maternal grandmother's corpse. As in washed her face, combed her hair, put on a dress, laid her out in her coffin, arranged some nice flowers around her. The worst part was telling the funeral agent that Yes, I want to do this, now please leave me alone.15 years later granddad was dying, and hinted about, but never quite asked, if I would do it for him as well. Of course I did. My mum has made it VERY clear she does NOT want me to do her. OK, mum, I respect your choices. You’re a gorgeous person for doing all that, just so you know
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Nov 20, 2018 19:16
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a mysterious cloak posted:I want some silliness done either with my remains or for the funeral. Like, launch my ashes from a catapult, but instead of sailing off into the sunset/ocean/whatever, the aim is a little off and the urn hits a tree and shatters. Something that'll make people crack up.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:26
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Aesop Poprock posted:I was planning on donating my body to science after I die but I’m not 100 on what they do if or when they’re done with you. I mean it won’t matter to me at that point and I guess it depends on what they use me for My dad did this. Once they're finished they cremate you and then dispose of your ashes in the ocean. They also send out a nice certificate to the remaining family. I plan on doing it myself when I finally die.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:36
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I kind of always wanted to be cremated, then have my ashes mixed with the spiciest scolville rated chili powder, pack that mixture into a canon and then fired into a crowd of Confederate soldiers at a Civil War re-enactment.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:37
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Besesoth posted:I say having done no research: I wonder how much of American funeral culture is due to our (government's) propensity for getting into overseas wars and the shock of WWI and WWII specifically, and families dealing with vast numbers of soldiers never making it home to be buried. It has nothing to do with it. People were dropping like flies in the pre-war eras because medicine was so lovely. So people did a lot of home funerals because death was so prevalent. Death was everywhere. Then the wars happened and suddenly we got good at medicine. Penicillin saved millions. Death became rarer. suddenly death was icky and best left to the professionals. Its also why you stopped having parlors and sitting rooms in houses and now you had Living rooms. You aren't going to prop up grandma in the living room.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:45
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