"This Mum and Dad live inside an app on my phone, as voice assistants constructed by the California-based company HereAfter AI and powered by more than four hours of conversations they each had with an interviewer about their lives and memories. (For the record, Mum isn’t that untidy.) The company’s goal is to let the living communicate with … Continue reading Simulated Selves
Tag: dying
Reduce Your Death Anxiety
"The one thing all human beings have in common, is the fact that one day, our lives will end in death.What does the idea of death mean to you? How does it make you feel?Chances are the thought of death triggers fear or anxiety in you. You might not feel totally comfortable with the idea … Continue reading Reduce Your Death Anxiety
Frank’s Box: The Real Telephone to the Dead
"‘Yes, I am Frank Sumption, and I made the original Frank’s Box, or the Ghost box. I am on Facebook, but even there, the interaction with the public is disappointing. Very few are interested, everyone knows better, no matter what these boxes say. I can not tell if I hear nothing and the 'voices' are … Continue reading Frank’s Box: The Real Telephone to the Dead
Chances of Dying From an In-Hospital Medical Error
"Errors in medicine include wrong diagnoses, drug dosage miscalculations, and treatment delays. These errors are likely to be underestimated because studies tend to focus exclusively on hospitals and not on the rest of the healthcare system; because some errors may only have debilitating effects years down the road for a patient and are thus harder … Continue reading Chances of Dying From an In-Hospital Medical Error
…Stay A Little Longer
"As death draws near, I feel the same uncomfortable transition I experienced when I was a teenager at Brantwood Camp in Peterborough, New Hampshire, packing up to go home after a grand summer. I’m not sure what awaits me when I get home, but this has certainly been an exciting experience. I had a loving … Continue reading …Stay A Little Longer
The Dead’s Goat
"But don’t pity the dead. They have time on their mouldering hands, and all they do is think of ways to vex us. They watch we living go about our dirty business—lying and cheating; penis-pumping; pirating pop music—and smile, amused, cool, indifferent, they’re like high-functioning heroin addicts, or cats. You want to get their attention, … Continue reading The Dead’s Goat
…You’re Going to Have to Forgive Yourself.
"If you are looking for absolution, you are going to have to forgive yourself."-Elizabeth Wurtzel, "‘I Believe in Love’: Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Final Year, In Her Own Words." Medium.com. January 8, 2020. Everything about this essay is perfect. Read it.
Scientists Are Giving Dead Brains New Life. What Could Go Wrong? – The New York Times
"But there was a worst-case scenario: A partly revived post-mortem brain, trapped in a feverish nightmare, perpetually reliving the very moment of its slaughter. 'Imagine the ultimate sensory-deprivation tank,' a member of the N.I.H.’s Neuroethics Working Group told me. "No inputs. No outputs. In your brain, nobody can hear you scream.'" —Matthew Shaer—Scientists Are Giving … Continue reading Scientists Are Giving Dead Brains New Life. What Could Go Wrong? – The New York Times
Ask A Mortician
A YouTube channel that does exactly what you think it does, h/t, The Outline. —Ask a Mortician
After a Death Occurs: A Checklist
Exactly what it says on the tin. Focused on the state of Washington in the United States, but broadly applicable everywhere. —After A Death Occurs: A Checklist
Biohacking Bullshit
I'm seeing more articles about "biohacking" by rich dudes. One subset seems to be looking for immortality, or at the very least to extend their lives or mitigate the effects of ageing. It strikes me as the archetypical problem of a beautiful woman trying to keep their looks as they get older. All of us … Continue reading Biohacking Bullshit
CPR as Death Ritual | Topic
"Only about one in five receiving CPR in a hospital leave the hospital alive. Only 1 in 10 elderly patients receiving CPR are alive a year later... ...A society's death rituals make a statement not only about what it means to die, but also what it means to live. For a world obsessed with technology, … Continue reading CPR as Death Ritual | Topic
Modern Dying
"I have heard it said that modern dying means dying more, dying over longer periods, enduring more uncertainty, subjecting ourselves and our families to more disappointments and despair. As we are enabled to live longer, we are also condemned to die longer. In that case, it should come as no surprise that some of us … Continue reading Modern Dying
Dying Isn’t the End of the World
"'Dying isn’t the end of the world,' my mom liked to joke, after she was diagnosed as terminal. I didn’t really understand it until, suddenly, I did—when my breast cancer became metastatic and incurable. There are so many things that are worse than death: old grudges; a loveless life; insufficient self-awareness; severe constipation; a lack … Continue reading Dying Isn’t the End of the World
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