Confronting your Death

     Caitlin Doughty's video, Confronting your Death, talks about the three best ways to tell someone what you would like done to your body. Some reasons she offers, is to have an above ground burial, which ours bodies would get embalmed. Then there's a cremation, which is burning your body to ash. Lastly, there is a natural underground burial where you just decompose with the Earth. By figuring out what we want done with our bodies, we then tell someone. It is then up to that person(s) we tell to go through with our plan. This will then not leave the person responsible for the funeral to question what you wanted done with your body. By them knowing what you want and telling someone, you're confronting your death.
     An objection I have to confronting your death, is what if I don't want any of those three options. Although they may be the most popular, I may want you to pick for me, or I could want something crazy. No one ever wants the same thing done. Most of my family members who have passed on, have been cremated, but when you think about it, your body is gone and all you are is ash. I'm not sure what I want done with my body just yet. Cremation seems to be popular, but I don't like the thought of my body burned to ashes.
     It's okay to not think about death right away. Death is inevitable, which we all know, but by talking about death, it could be a scary subject we just don't want to bring up. I also know that one would think by talking about your death, it could dispel your fear of death. But is there a such thing as a "cure" to fears? I don't think there is. By talking and confronting your death, that fear is still there, it just may now be minimized since we have talked about it.

Comments

  1. CurbeeApril 16, 2019 at 5:34 PM

    I strongly agree with your view on your response to Doughty's argument. I believe that not many people think strongly about what they want done to their body after dying because many don't want to think about that. Also, because it isn't as important to some. It may to some people, but the majority maybe not. I also feel as if not many would care what happens to their body, not only getting scared to talk about it. You're right, it is okay to not think about your death right away, who would want to think about that at a young age? There is no rule in life saying we HAVE to think and talk about our death, although it may be beneficial and reduce your fears, but you don't always need to. But confronting it is a way to reduce that fear, but I believe that knowing what to do with your body after death doesn't have a huge affect on many.

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  2. Ethan HerringApril 17, 2019 at 4:21 PM

    Have no fear; there ARE cures to fears. Fears, in fact, require only logic to attack. Phobias, which are irrational fears to the degree of being something pathological, can even be cured, but not always. Almost all phobias which receive proper psychological treatment, however, are cured in the sense that they are reduced to only a fear; a rational fear. Psychologists use a technique called systematic desensitization to cure phobias. Systematic desensitization is scientific evidence which can serve as a premise upon which to build support for the conclusion that we ought to think about death if we want to alleviate our fears about it, which was argued for by essentially every author discussed in this class.

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