{"id":2644,"date":"2015-03-12T20:34:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T20:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/astraea.net\/blog\/?p=2644"},"modified":"2015-03-13T08:03:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T08:03:01","slug":"a-chapter-on-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astraea.net\/blog\/a-chapter-on-death\/","title":{"rendered":"A chapter on death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well sub-chapter.\u00a0 From Common Sense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Death Is a Part of Life<\/h2>\n

As my subconscious filtered the idea that weaknesses in our systems
\noccurred when we ignored nature’s example, I realised that we found
\nit difficult to deal with death, although it was clearly a part of
\nlife.<\/p>\n

Death was important because fearing it is difficult to rationalise.
\nWe don’t want to talk about it. It is even difficult to say the
\nword. \u201cSo and so passed away<\/i>\u201d, not \u201cdied\u201d. We hang
\non to our stuff till the end, even beyond, instead of letting our
\nchildren take it, or letting it go where it would be appreciated. As
\nwe get old, we fear the loss of the career we enjoyed building so
\nmuch that we ignore the opportunity to learn new skills, see new
\nplaces, or spend time with friends.<\/p>\n

The reality of death seemed to be important to understanding the
\nmeaning of life. It seemed incompatible that we have such
\nsensitivity to death and treat it as such a tragedy, but we kill all
\nthe time. We kill for food and we kill for power. The realisation
\nthat to eat meat you are killing all the time made me stop eating
\nmeat. A meat-eater promotes the killing of young, sentient animals.
\nThat had to stop immediately. State sponsored murder is even more
\nincomprehensible. Even if you don’t make the connection between the
\nmuscle on your plate and the cow in the field, everyone must see the
\nconnection between war and the death and dismemberment of people. We
\nhad to deal with death more intelligently.<\/p>\n

Ignoring death is a weakness of the birth to death, A to B, linear
\nmindset. We don’t easily think of \u201cchange\u201d as an alternative to
\n\u201cgrowth\u201d or \u201cossification\u201d. It obscures the opportunity to
\nsee oneself as part of the greater whole, of your family, community,
\nspecies, environment, universe. Maybe if we faced death, it would be
\neasier to see ourselves in the grand scheme of things, appreciate
\nwhat we have and face the reality of a natural dynamics of life.<\/p>\n

\"suicideispainless\"<\/a>\u201cSuicide Is Painless<\/i>\u201d*<\/sup><\/a>,
\nthe theme song from M*A*S*H (the movie and TV series) influenced my
\nability to consider death in a sanguine way. It still bounces around
\nin my head whenever life seems futile or selfish. The tune was
\nmelancholy and its lyrics were not that clear, but they struck a
\nchord, raising questions of life and death. The show itself,
\nM*A*S*H, being set in a poorly resourced hospital on the front line
\nof a war**<\/sup><\/a><\/span>,
\njuxtaposed the fight for life against the demand for death.<\/p>\n

When you try, but get pushed back, try again and try harder but get
\nquashed again, it’s easy to wonder if maybe you aren’t surplus to
\nhumanity and redundant. It’s easy to think you might as well not be
\nthere when you feel of no use. Suicide can seem to be the right
\noption. That is facing death.<\/p>\n

Or maybe as a radical change agent, who does not want to terrorise
\nand kill others, but does want to draw attention to an issue, suicide
\nis used as a peaceful statement encouraging change. That is
\nsomething like the rationale a martyr might adopt, perhaps a Thai
\nstudent self immolating to highlight corruption, or a Tibetan monk
\nwho self-immolates to protest occupation and torture. Both fight for
\npeace and justice without killing others. It was clear that the
\nrationale for suicide needed to be given a fair hearing, especially
\nin a world where war is advocated.<\/p>\n

Peter Singer’s Rethinking Life and Death<\/i> helped me address the
\nissues surrounding death. His book is a lucid discussion of the
\nmedical definition of human death and a persuasive rationale for
\ntreating domesticated animals with more humanity. His style and
\nphilosophy are honest and resonated strongly. Although Singer was
\nnew to me, he had been promoting sense and morality about death for
\ndecades. His initial publication, Animal Liberation<\/i>, had
\nsuccinctly and clearly rationalised animal-free diets back in the
\n1970s.<\/p>\n

Although it was easy for me to put humans on a similar moral footing
\nto the rest of nature, the rationale for doing so is very difficult
\nfor many people to think about, let alone accept. That is evidenced
\nby laws against suicide, euthanasia and abortion, which have little
\nfoundation in science or ethics but rest on emotions fuelled by
\nprejudice, often religious*<\/sup><\/a>.
\nThe reasons for rethinking life and death are based on medical
\nscience, private choice and personal consequences, while current
\npractices are generally motivated by a \u201cbig brother\u201d mentality \u2013
\n\u201cwe know what is good for you so we’ll decide\u201d. Command and
\ncontrol, again.<\/p>\n

It is easier for someone in their early or middle years to say that
\nwe should not be so sombre about death. It seems that the older you
\nget the more you want to hang on to life. That is understandable.
\nYou love life, but even as age makes bones more brittle, waist more
\nblubbery, breathing more wheezy, and the effort to get fit and
\nhealthy harder, you know your time has passed. It is already time to
\ngo. There are others waiting to take a place at the table of life.
\nThe burden of humanity on earth is not helped by longevity, unless
\nthe population is stable. Currently it is not, it is still growing
\nout of control. There are too many people. Age has its benefits.
\nWisdom and patience are important ones. But there is a time to stop
\ntaking the pills and having your nappy changed and to gracefully just
\nsay goodbye. We’ll see how I do on that one, even if I do know a cup
\nof pills can make suicide painless, maybe even fun.<\/p>\n

What is certain is that living forever is not going to be
\ncomfortable. Even if your body could be rejuvenated, your mind can
\nnot. Your brain is physiological but your mind is virtual. It is
\nmoulded by experience so is a random process that can not be copied
\nby a machine, however brilliant. Medically, the ability of
\nexperiences and ideas to stimulate the mind diminishes as life
\nbecomes familiar.<\/p>\n

If it is death you fear, then that is fear for yourself. Fear of
\ndeath is psychological. It is an idea which can be influenced, so it
\ncan be reduced. It is the dominance of ego that makes a person hold
\non to life, as it makes one hold on to stuff.<\/p>\n

If you are looking for \u201cenlightenment\u201d you will have heard that
\nletting go is part of that. It is not so easy to do. If you are
\nsuccessful it is almost impossible because you probably had to put
\nyourself forward in order to get where you are. It reminds you of
\nthat saying \u201cit’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a
\nneedle than for a rich man to enter paradise\u201d. You can not take
\nstuff with you. You can not control the future. You have to let go
\nand life is better when you do. You regain a childish enjoyment of
\nlife, because fear of death has been faced.<\/p>\n

Gerry, a friend who helped with our retreat and proposed investment
\nfund, died at the tender age of 64. A few weeks before he keeled
\nover, while chatting at dinner someone asked him<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you want on your grave stone? And do want to be buried or
\ncremated?\u201d<\/p>\n

He replied with stout Dutch pragmatism,<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do I care? I’ll be dead!\u201d<\/p>\n

He got it. He was in touch with reality. He felt nature.<\/p>\n

If people could see that our legacy is not about us, but about the
\npeople left behind, maybe we wouldn’t be so worried about death.
\nMaybe we could all let go. Then we would respect the circle of life.
\nWe would design products and processes that respect the circle of
\nlife: cradle-to-cradle. That would help us move beyond the
\nindustrial perspective of linear thinking and appreciate the wider
\ninterconnectedness of our world. And that would help us tune in to
\nthe metaphysical world, too.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

*<\/a>Lyrics written by Mike Altman aged 14!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

**<\/a>TheKoran War, which ironically many people thought unjustified and
\nillegal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

*<\/a>In Ireland at the end of 2012 a mother died because a hospital denied
\nher an abortion on Catholic\/legal grounds though the foetus was not
\nviable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well sub-chapter.\u00a0 From Common Sense. Death Is a Part of Life As my subconscious filtered the idea that weaknesses in our systems occurred when we ignored nature’s example, I realised that we found it difficult to deal with death, although it was clearly a part of life. Death was important because fearing it is difficult …
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