livinoutdoors
Goatherding non socialist bohemian luddite
Whenever it breaks down i reckon.
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- Thread starter ambush80
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oldfella1962
Senior Member
Good question! What is the "line in the sand" between the chemicals/compounds that make up our bodies and the essence of what is - or what was at some point - our essence as a living human? Just like religion or philosophy or abstract thought in general, are we humans imagining or projecting our own ideas into processes that do not need human descriptions & categorization?
oldfella1962
Senior Member
Fair enough. If - just picking a time at random - 5,000 years from now scientists cannot identify any bones/tissue/chemical compounds that can positively say that there is not a trace of anything that can be identified as "human" in any way, shape or form where your body was buried - it is no doubt broken down completely.
livinoutdoors
Goatherding non socialist bohemian luddite
Well then at that point i guess you could eat it without bein disrespectful.
In some of the places where the consumption of human remains was practiced it was done as a sign of great respect for the deceased.
Different strokes for different folks.
Different strokes for different folks.
ambush80
Senior Member
Absolutely. I suppose those folks would make fine interstellar travellers.
I believe some Native American tribes felt that way.
ambush80
Senior Member
How much?
ambush80
Senior Member
It isn't an issue for me because I don't consider my mortal remains sacred. I know Catholics are against cremation because they think their remains will be reconstituted somehow and sent to Paradise when Jesus returns. It's apparent that the morality of this issue is closely tied to culture and that most people haven't given it much thought, only parroting what they've been told.
ambush80
Senior Member
What if you sped up the breaking down process a little? Or does it only count if worms did it?
ambush80
Senior Member
At that point it would be called "dirt".
earlthegoat2
Senior Member
I imagine our views might change if we were all in a situation where the very survival of the species was at stake.
Many haven’t the ability to imagine life off their squishy chairs to fathom a the hypothetical moral and philosophical shifts that would occur under such circumstances.
I tend to think a few of us here have been in much more dire situations than we are now and our ways of thinking changed to suit the situation.
My work in the funeral business has shown me many people have many different philosophies of death, dying, and what goes on after death.
Respect for the shell (body) of a deceased is highly subjective. Mostly brought on by religious or various other institutionalized ethical guidelines.
Many haven’t the ability to imagine life off their squishy chairs to fathom a the hypothetical moral and philosophical shifts that would occur under such circumstances.
I tend to think a few of us here have been in much more dire situations than we are now and our ways of thinking changed to suit the situation.
My work in the funeral business has shown me many people have many different philosophies of death, dying, and what goes on after death.
Respect for the shell (body) of a deceased is highly subjective. Mostly brought on by religious or various other institutionalized ethical guidelines.
Absolutely. I suppose those folks would make fine interstellar travellers.
I believe some Native American tribes felt that way.
Which tribes?
ambush80
Senior Member
Cannibalism in the Americas - Wikipedia
War, Cannabalism, Torture - Native Americans Weren't The Nature Loving Doves Humanities Academics Claim
Much of this is taken on faith because 2,000 years after most of the world, the early immigrants to the Americas still hadn't learned to read and write. That leaves what scientists call just-so stories but what humanities academics lovingly embrace as oral tradition.
These describe "spoils of war" cannibalism, but I believe I've read that they sometimes ate loved ones ceremonially. It wouldn't surprise me in the least.
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ambush80
Senior Member
It's uncomfortable to recognize, but morality is shaped by circumstance and isn't absolute.
Doublehead was quoted as saying that white people tasted too salty.
ambush80
Senior Member
I had an idea for a restaurant. I was gonna call it Captain Cook's long pig BBQ.
oldfella1962
Senior Member
Hmmm....there wouldn't be anything left to eat. Kind of a Catch-22 in that regard.
oldfella1962
Senior Member
I don't get it. If Jesus reconstitutes our remains anyway, what would it matter what condition they are in since it's all spiritual/supernatural and in another dimension or whatever? And what if Jesus returns in 2,000 more years from now and dead Christians remains from the year 204 or 2024 were buried intact but the remains are long gone? I think you are right - they didn't think this through.
ambush80
Senior Member
No. They didn't think it through, but they gave it the consideration they were capable of at the time. It's no less of a strange concept than eating your enemies to get their "powers". That belief actually comports better with what actually happens in the natural world.
livinoutdoors
Goatherding non socialist bohemian luddite
All the way
