Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by gpmcadam on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @12:34PM
(#7429827)
As I understood it, the "ashes" you receive post-cremation are actually the ground remains of bones from all cremations that took place that day, and thus you can't actually guarantee that it's "you" in the urn (or the tree), it's actually just a large collection of the people cremated that day.
Apart from that, I love this idea. It actually throws up all sorts of strange meta-physical questions about the self and who we really are.
Also, for added creepiness, could you be turned into, say, an orange grove? If you were, would the people eating the fruit be somehow digesting ... you? Strange.
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by Sharlin on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @12:51PM
(#7429994)
I'm probably being too prosaic, but do note that plants don't actually use any matter from the soil they grow on besides water plus some minerals and micronutrients. The carbon that constitutes most of the plant matter is literally taken out of thin air via photosynthesis. Also, most of the molecules that were a part of you a year ago are already a part of something or someone else.
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by gtaylor on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @12:36PM
(#7429843)
As long as they got a few pieces of me in there, I'm cool with that. Maybe the best way to look at this is "Turn yourself and a bunch of other nice dead people into a tree".
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by lucian1900 on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @01:21PM
(#7430251)
Does it really matter, though? Even if they were more carefully selected, the ashes would still contain lots of atoms from other sources and lack lots of atoms.
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by delinquentme on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @01:01PM
(#7430095)
Cremation: Guaranteeing that your chances of reanimation are as near to zero as possible. Personally I'd go with cryonics, but thats after you move past the coping mechanisms.
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by andyjohnson0 on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @01:20PM
(#7430239)
Since you mentioned coping mechanisms, a genuine but slightly OT question:
I wonder what the grieving process like for the surviving friends and family of a deceased, cryopreserved person? Do they try to ignore the negative aspects of the death because of the possibility that the deceased will be brought back to life in the future? Or feel as sad as they would if cryonics had not been used, because revival is unlikely and/or even if it did occur would almost certainly happen in the far future? Or is there no difference.
I wonder because grief, while unpleasant, is important when dealing with the death of others. Failure to grieve can cause long-term psychological problems.
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by stinos on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @11:47AM
(#7429448)
This makes me smile. These days, when most of the news is about the latest gadget and tech stuff and connecting yourself to the cloud somehow, I am glad there are still people coming up with fresh ideas involving not much technology at all. Just seed and ashes in a paper cup. Awesome!
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by smackay on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @12:16PM
(#7429685)
We planted a tree (from seed) when each of our kids were born. Being the superstitious, symbol creating species that we are it was a little stressful for the first year or so in case the trees didn't make it and so foretold our childrens fate.
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by andyjohnson0 on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @01:28PM
(#7430295)
According to [1] its mainly pulverised bone, salts, and minerals. This appears to provide some nutrition for plants - in the UK peoiple are being urged not to scatter ashes in upland/moorland areas because the minerals are changing the local soil composition and plant ecology [2].
Re:How to turn into a tree after you die
by caio1982 on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @12:41PM
(#7429876)
Totally! For those who missed it, in the movie there's a story about how a civilization used to bury their people and they'd plant a seed in the deceased's body/chest so it could grow from the inside and take the persons' soul, or whatever there was in it, to the sky, to ascend it. And that's somehow part of the plot of the movie too. Something like that, IIRC.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Of_Withered_Apples
Apart from that, I love this idea. It actually throws up all sorts of strange meta-physical questions about the self and who we really are.
Also, for added creepiness, could you be turned into, say, an orange grove? If you were, would the people eating the fruit be somehow digesting ... you? Strange.
http://youtu.be/N1pIYI5JQLE
While that is, unfortunately, pretty common for pet cremations it not supposed to be that way for humans.
http://caringcremations.com/frequently-asked-questions-crema...
Or more weird.
I wonder what the grieving process like for the surviving friends and family of a deceased, cryopreserved person? Do they try to ignore the negative aspects of the death because of the possibility that the deceased will be brought back to life in the future? Or feel as sad as they would if cryonics had not been used, because revival is unlikely and/or even if it did occur would almost certainly happen in the far future? Or is there no difference.
I wonder because grief, while unpleasant, is important when dealing with the death of others. Failure to grieve can cause long-term psychological problems.
Sure. But this presumes that one is a lesser evil.
I'd defer to you which is worse: The Void, or someone having mixed emotions for a while.
Would that not be distressing to the surviving family members even more and re-awaken the pain of loosing someone all over again?
[1] http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/10/soil-iq/
What's really left after the cremation anyway? Is there really anything left that we can call "nutrients"?
[1] http://www.cremationsolutions.com/All-About-Cremation-Ashes-...
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1508784/Cremation-ash...
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169861/Shocked-Russ...
http://journal.publications.chestnet.org/article.aspx?articl...
http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/04/russian-man-did-not-as...