# What do you want done with your body when you die? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890 "2013-12-09T14:08:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/41 "2013-12-09T21:45:31Z")
> [@bup](#): > > By that logic, burning food is just as good for the earth as eating it. It _IS_ just as good. The earth is a closed biosystem, nothing goes to waste. > [@](#): > > Rotting is a much better transfer of energy to other living things. Cremation removes energy from the food chain. It also uses natural gas . It is true that it uses natural gas, but that is another issue separate from recycling energy or matter. Rotting is nothing more than slow motion combustion, cremation does not remove energy from the food chain, it just channels it into other living things besides worms and insects. Cremation is not some biological dead end. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/42 "2013-12-09T22:30:57Z")
Changed my mind. Still cremate me, then sprinkle me on the ocean - and have a label on my urn that says “Call me Fishmeal.” ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/43 "2013-12-09T22:48:53Z")
Funerals are for the living so they can remember me however they choose to. I too prefer cremation after donation - the idea of being soup inside an expensive coffin is repugnant. Having a grave marker seems a bit macabre to me too - especially since I’d prefer my friends and family to remember me as I lived, not as I died. I think the idea of them spreading my ashes someplace where we’ve shared pleasant memories is better than knowing that I’m in the ground in a graveyard and feeling a pang of guilt for not ever visiting. What surprises me is how underrepresented traditional burial is in this thread. I suppose it’s telling of a trend. Now that I think about it, when I was younger every funeral I went to had a graveside internment ceremony for close friends and family. In the past 10 years or so only a handful of the funerals I’ve been to have included graveside services as cremation has become more popular. Why the shift? ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/44 "2013-12-09T22:50:30Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I want to be entombed beneath a giant golden statue of an archangel with gas jet eyes and when you approach it, it bellows “Behold! You approach the resting place of Jophiel! Tremble with fear for if God saw fit to take this man from the Earth, what value could your own life hold?” > > Also, I want women to sit beside it wailing and covering themselves with ashes 24/7. This “Dump me in a ditch” nonsense is for people without vision. This is awesome - reminds me of Ozymandias. Be sure to put it someplace where people can see it! ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/45 "2013-12-09T22:53:16Z")
I checked into the leaving to science option and they don’t actually want nearly as many bodies as they are offered so your family will need back up plans in case you are refused or even removed and returned shortly with a few new scars. Organs donated and my preference is that science gets first dibs, after that cremation. I don’t really like a fuss but I think that people like to come together in these times so I have a soundtrack recorded somewhere I need to get to a friend who’ll make sure it gets played at the park or pub or funeral parlour where it happens. I doubt anyone will understand why these songs are my top ten but hopefully they’ll smile at those they do get. I imagine a whole bunch of lawyers inappropriately splorking at “tequila” for instance. No need for a stone or plaque anywhere. I am without religion so no need to talk to anyone’s God on my behalf. No flowers, I’m allergic. If anyone wants to throw money in above the bar bill then my favourite charities and causes are well known. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/46 "2013-12-09T23:06:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I find the whole tradition of holding wakes and funerals to be offensive. Wakes and funerals are not for the deceased; they are for the persons mourning him or her. One of my favorite teachers died about a week before my mother did–I’m sure I posted about it at the time–and specifically asked for no memorial service, funeral, or even obit. Much as I loved Charlie this was selfish of him, as it (would have) deprived the many, many people who loved him the opportunity to purge their own grief and comfort one another. We had a memorial a while after he died and felt much better. That said, a memorial needn’t require a corpse. I want my body creamated (in the plain pine coffin; ideally friend Carol will hand-make it) and my ashes scattered as she sees fit. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/47 "2013-12-09T23:23:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Wakes and funerals are not for the deceased; they are for the persons mourning him or her. I wouldn’t object to a quiet, low-key memorial service, where my loved ones could gather and reminisce and celebrate my life, if they choose to do so. What I don’t like is the morbid nature of traditional rites, the obligations they impose on people, and their exorbitant cost. To me, the whole business is just … creepy! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/48 "2013-12-09T23:26:55Z")
Mr. Shoe was donated to the UT SW med school. He would’ve wanted to be useful to someone anyway, so it’s fine by me, but to the end of my days I want to find the students who “used” him and ask, “So. Whaddya learn?” **Me** : as close to the ol’ shoebox-in-the-backyard burial as most of my pets have gotten. No embalming (PLEASE!!!) and no cremation. Just … going back to the earth and re-feeding the next generation of plants. Stick a tree on my spot, I guess. Maybe a nice desert willow … The ciiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrcle of lifffffffffffffffffffffffffffe … **thud** ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/49 "2013-12-09T23:29:30Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > Funerals are for the living so they can remember me however they choose to. > > I too prefer cremation after donation - the idea of being soup inside an expensive coffin is repugnant. Having a grave marker seems a bit macabre to me too - especially since I’d prefer my friends and family to remember me as I lived, not as I died. I think the idea of them spreading my ashes someplace where we’ve shared pleasant memories is better than knowing that I’m in the ground in a graveyard and feeling a pang of guilt for not ever visiting. > > What surprises me is how underrepresented traditional burial is in this thread. I suppose it’s telling of a trend. Now that I think about it, when I was younger every funeral I went to had a graveside internment ceremony for close friends and family. In the past 10 years or so only a handful of the funerals I’ve been to have included graveside services as cremation has become more popular. Why the shift? A part of it may be the increased mobility of families. Our family plot at home has all the original immigrants, then through the couple of generations there was more spreading out. Some close by and others far away. Then the cremations began. Then there’s the religious and economical issues. Busy-ness too. I doubt you’ll catch my kids finding time to come sit anywhere and contemplate their dear old dead Mom. If they could text I suppose they would. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/50 "2013-12-09T23:34:59Z")
Strip me for parts, cremate the rest. Then, scatter. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/51 "2013-12-09T23:35:10Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > In the past 10 years or so only a handful of the funerals I’ve been to have included graveside services as cremation has become more popular. Why the shift? Nobody dresses up to get on a jet anymore. Loads of guys don’t own a sport coat, let alone a suit. You can’t assume the next person you meet (In the US) is a Christian, or religious at all. I think society in general is redefining itself with the aid of electronics. Our courtesies and customs are shifting away from traditional because nearly every aspect of our lives are changing several times _within our own lifetimes_. If something doesn’t sucessfully answer, “What’s it for?” it gets ditched. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/52 "2013-12-10T00:43:30Z")
I’ve done the paperwork for a med school donation - but, how will I know? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/53 "2013-12-10T01:02:44Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > It doesn’t matter much to me…I’ll be done using it at that point. > > It would be nice if my organs could be used, or my body could go to science. But mainly, I just hope that my final disposition is easy and inexpensive for whomever needs to carry it out. Same here. It would be a shame if anyone did anything special _for me_ or in remembrance of me since I could not possibly care less about rituals, funerals, or the like but I wouldn’t care if they wanted to do something _for them_. If my husband said he is planning some big shindig, I’d say two things: 1. Please don’t tell me the date, 'cause I don’t wanna know; and 2. Whatever floats your boat. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/54 "2013-12-10T01:30:14Z")
Organs donated then body to the body farm. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/55 "2013-12-10T01:48:19Z")
Any usable or desirable bits offered to their respective takers, then the shell gets viking pyro boated one pretty sunset. Sadly, that’s very unlikely, so I’ll probably get my shell dumped in a pine box and buried cheaply and without much fanfare on my family property like all my other unimaginative and practical relatives. But, damn, I would really love to think that I went up in flames after the end. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/56 "2013-12-10T13:51:33Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Any usable or desirable bits offered to their respective takers, then the shell gets viking pyro boated one pretty sunset. > > Sadly, that’s very unlikely, so I’ll probably get my shell dumped in a pine box and buried cheaply and without much fanfare on my family property like all my other unimaginative and practical relatives. > > But, damn, I would really love to think that I went up in flames after the end. Shelley? I also fantasize about the Dakota practice of putting up a platform of sticks or logs with the body on top and allowing the fierce birds of prey to dine on my carcass. * * * I have an acquaintance from another forum, young woman who is studying to be an undertaker. She wrote me that she was learning how to make false noses for people who had lost theirs somehow in the death process. She’s pretty interesting. But I can’t keep from thinking about the indignity of being buried with a putty nose. Not that it would matter or anything. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/57 "2013-12-10T17:07:53Z")
> [@Thylacine](#): > > I don’t really like a fuss but I think that people like to come together in these times so I have a soundtrack recorded somewhere I need to get to a friend who’ll make sure it gets played at the park or pub or funeral parlour where it happens. Heh. Same here. I plan to have it played during the social time after my funeral Mass, and given out as a party favor for folks to enjoy later. Since I will never get married, it’s the closest I can get to the big catered dinner with favors. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/58 "2013-12-10T17:58:56Z")
Cremated, ashes scattered into the incoming fog from the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/59 "2013-12-10T18:38:38Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > I also fantasize about the Dakota practice of putting up a platform of sticks or logs with the body on top and allowing the fierce birds of prey to dine on my carcass. [Sky burials](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial) are still done in Tibet and some other places. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890/60 "2013-12-10T18:52:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It _IS_ just as good. The earth is a closed biosystem, nothing goes to waste.It is true that it uses natural gas, but that is another issue separate from recycling energy or matter. Rotting is nothing more than slow motion combustion, cremation does not remove energy from the food chain, it just channels it into other living things besides worms and insects. Cremation is not some biological dead end. You and I, let’s just disagree. The earth is a closed biosystem, but the energy you’re burning could be feeding something. My way says that using energy for food for living organisms is better than turning the energy into undesired heat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-want-done-with-your-body-when-you-die/675890.md?page=4)