Inspired by this thread
So we humans are on top of the food chain. I have no problems with eating other species. I don’t see anything unethical about that.
But it occurs to me that if I accept nature and evolution to validate my right to eat other species, then I should allow other species to feed off me when I can no longer defend and preserve my life. To deny the scavengers and bugs to feast on my corpse and complete the circle of life is an afront to ecology.
i agree and have been setting up a living will to see to this upon my dispatch.
first, there’s a fund set aside for renting portable bleachers to set up in a field i’ve set to rent on the first monday after my death.
second, i’ve made all my loved ones sign of on a living estate that has language in the fine print legally binding them to attend the makeshift stadium for said event.
finally, a local wildlife refuge has agreed to rent me his five largest wolves. my lawyer has a pre-written letter set to fire to him the day my death is confirmed (giving him time to be sure the wolves are hungry) along with funds in escrow that will secure the wolf-rentals.
my corpse will be lowered via pulley into the pit in the center of the bleachers and my family and loved ones will watch me be devoured by wolves.
My will is like jumpy’s but additionally the person giving the eulogy is required to say: “And now we release Bryan’s soul to the realm of the damned… the damned good-looking!”
What’s wrong with simple burial? Worms and bacteria got to eat, too.
Exactly. And cremation followed by burial or scattering returns your component parts to the environment as well, either in the form of flue gasses or calcium-rich ash. The main reason embalming is so popular is because it gives the family a few days to organize and gather for the funeral/viewing/wake. Many people aren’t embalmed for religious or other reasons, but their loved ones only have a day or two from death to get them in the ground before they start stinking up the joint (Coughlin’s Law). If you’re cool with that there’s nothing in the way of you becoming a worm buffet within a day.
Alternately, it sounds like sky burial would be right up your alley.
Technically speaking, the body is going to eventually decompose and get eaten. Embalming it makes the bacteria of today go hungry, but the bacteria of tomorrow turn out just fine. How are earlier bacteria any more deserving than later?
Worms gotta eat, same as vultures. – Josey Wales
Fire is a completely natural way of recycling.
But it’s also a way of releasing sequestrated carbon. Far better to keep a lot of it locked up in other life forms.
If I sequester any more carbon, my chair will break.
If that’s the reasoning by which you validate your meat-eating, then fine. As others have pointed out though, almost all methods of processing the body will eventually result in the return of materials to the ecosystem.
But I’m not sure that most (or even many) people justify meat-eating in this way.
And of the methods of processing the body I find burial to be the most unethical, at least here in Britain. I don’t want my stinky old corpse taking up valuable space which could be used for something.
I’ll withdraw my objection to burial .
We shouldn’t take sides regarding who gets to eat us.
A few months ago I read about an interesting method of body disposal that is attempting to spread in Europe. First, the body is freeze-dried. Next, vibration or sound waves are used to break the body up. Finally, the remaining material is composted and used to fertilize a memorial tree.
Why not?
+1
An affront to ecology? A theoretical concept cannot really be affronted. And you’re dead anyway, so why give a damn. In any case you put way too much in the basket of things that need to considered and acted upon in an ethical manner. It must be very difficult to be you, and have to go through life analyzing every little step of the way for whether it is ethical. Let loose a bit, and leave the ethical considerations for the big questions. More to the point is the questions of practicalities. And my guess is that it is probably not very practical to leave the corpses of a million+ city for the ravens and stray dogs to feast on. Would probably end up with a plague on your hands.
Compared with the pollution of an entire life, the effect of burning my dead body is negligible.
:D:D:D:D:D
This is going up on my refrigerator as my new diet slogan!
Roddy
Rotting corpses have this funny habit of, you know, being basically a mini biological weapon, used historically to some great effect I understand. I do like the idea overall, but for this problem. Where are we piling corpses for however long? Do we grind the bones afterward?—
“Bone meal: better than no meal at all.” (GWAR song)
I’d suggest donating your earthly remains to science, particularly to The Body Farm. That way you’re devoured quite naturally, but get to serve an additional purpose.