After you're dead and gone

[Return of the Silver Fox]

Here's a thought. We constantly hear of people spending a lifetime on benefits so in these cases should the state automatically get the body. After all it's been paid for by my tax dollars so If I need a bit I should get it.

Only worry would be that the Adverts song 'Gary Gilmore's eyes' had an element of truth about it....

 

[dodge-gnome]

Like an eternal contract? "If the state gives you benefits, we have all rights to your body". Seems pretty morbid to me...
And who would say it stops at organ donations. Going on the argument of "they're dead, do they really care if their body has the original organs or not?", couldn't you go the whole 9 yards and say "they're dead, do they really care if we inject their body with hormones and see what happens?". Because i'm pretty sure your loved ones wouldn't be too happy with your body being hacked and cut away, whether it's for science or to save lives. Because once you sign away your body saying that your organs are up for grabs, who's to say what they'd be used for

 

[Missy-Q]

Like an eternal contract? "If the state gives you benefits, we have all rights to your body". Seems pretty morbid to me...
And who would say it stops at organ donations. Going on the argument of "they're dead, do they really care if their body has the original organs or not?", couldn't you go the whole 9 yards and say "they're dead, do they really care if we inject their body with hormones and see what happens?". Because i'm pretty sure your loved ones wouldn't be too happy with your body being hacked and cut away, whether it's for science or to save lives. Because once you sign away your body saying that your organs are up for grabs, who's to say what they'd be used for

Your family still gets a box to bury, or burn, depending on their preference.
It's not like people will be asking "where's the body-parts?" at the funeral.

You're not going to be saying, "sorry, the government took the body to run tests"

Donors are buries/cremated all the time. I for one don't really want to know what's missing, although a letter of thanks from the person saved would probably go a long way towards making the greiving family feel better.
When I carried my old-mans coffin, it felt like there was nothing in it, and we joked that anything that wasn't already pickled had probably been stripped out of him for spare parts. It really doesn't enter your head that it's a bad thing. The grieving process is still the same.

 

[Bon]

Like an eternal contract? "If the state gives you benefits, we have all rights to your body". Seems pretty morbid to me...
And who would say it stops at organ donations. Going on the argument of "they're dead, do they really care if their body has the original organs or not?", couldn't you go the whole 9 yards and say "they're dead, do they really care if we inject their body with hormones and see what happens?". Because i'm pretty sure your loved ones wouldn't be too happy with your body being hacked and cut away, whether it's for science or to save lives. Because once you sign away your body saying that your organs are up for grabs, who's to say what they'd be used for

The whole burial / cremation thing is more a ritualistic part of the greiving proccess opposed to a mechanical action. Does it matter if you miss all your vitals as long as the family goes through the process?

Ok if maybe we were canibals and ate our dead, then yea some missing organs might be noticed, but otherwise, after confirming the person who died is that person, how many times will the family or friends actually see anything other than the coffin?

Giving one's life to save another is possibly one of the most selfless and nobles acts possible. Giving an organ to save anothers life, whether you are dead or not, ranks pretty high up there in my books also.

 

[dodge-gnome]

Well the idea of burials or cremations for me is out of respect for that person, and to "dispose" (can i use that word?) of the body how they wish . I generally don't like the idea of an "opt out" system where hospitals can call shotgun on all your insides before handing the body back to the family to continue with the greiving process.
To me it seems more respectful to give the person when they were alive the opportunity to decide what they want to do with their body, and what parts of it.

 

[Return of the Silver Fox]

Well the idea of burials or cremations for me is out of respect for that person, and to "dispose" (can i use that word?) of the body how they wish . I generally don't like the idea of an "opt out" system where hospitals can call shotgun on all your insides before handing the body back to the family to continue with the greiving process.
To me it seems more respectful to give the person when they were alive the opportunity to decide what they want to do with their body, and what parts of it.

The opt out system means it is assumed you agree to your body parts being used in the medical or scientific community unless you make it clear this is against your wishes.

Another point to consider is that cremation in England has only been legal for just over 100 years.
Knowing the Victorian attitude to science and invention is it not reasonable to believe that, had they had the know how to change organs, we would now be doing this as a matter of course.

 

[Vegard]

Donating [anything] to help science is obviously a good thing, but when it comes to my own flesh and bone I'm a bit of a hypocrite I suppose. I will be cremated..

I work at a hospital and I see alot of dead bodies, I don't want to end up like that myself; put into a room built like a freezer untill some random guy puts you in a coffin and sends you off to a cemetary.

Not for me.

 

[Biscuit]

as alot of people i agree with the opt out system
i look at it this way i,m dead you can take what you want and to know my bits could save someone would make me happy
saying that where do we sign up ,we can all talk the talk but how many of us are donors
here we go if you haven,t done it go do it
http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/how_to_become_a_donor/how_to_become_a_donor.jsp
did mine ages ago
or something real simple give blood at http://www.blood.co.uk/
we could organise this at some event especially the nvs event

 

[Cook$]

When I die, I'm gonna have my brain put in the body of a shark. Man, that'd be awesome.

 

[Buddha 3]

I do hope it's a shark with a frikkin laser on its head...