What is Digg?71 Comments
- Meekus, on 09/04/2008, -3/+29I took a death and dying course in college figuring it would be an easy "A". We did many of the same things. The younger students usually reacted in a more different manner than the older students (30yo+). The youngens made more jokes and seemed uncomfortable. The older people seemed more "accepting" of the mortality.
I also realized that the younger folk had a harder time relating because they did not experience death first hand - IE a mother, father, brother, sister, or spouse, close friend, etc. The younger ones that did experience death on this level acted much more like the older folk.
I think this is a tough topic. I see merits in both being ignorant of it, and of embracing it. Being ignorant of it and refusing to address it will allow a person to be happy right up to the moment they pass. By holding on to a notion of "I will fight this!". But being cognizant of it could cause one to dwell too much on it not being able to focus on anything else in their living world. This is something that is VERY HARD to come to terms with. With being at peace and accepting your own death. Moreover, perhaps even more painful, the death of your loved ones that you must live through. It's one of those things you can learn about, but only time, experience, and life can teach you how to handle.
The two truths are that 1)this is something we will ALL face in our life and 2)there is no one right way to view or handle death. - yillip, on 09/04/2008, -1/+19I want to take that class.
- abarysh2, on 09/04/2008, -2/+18Wow way to make me tear up at work :(
- DoctorGumbo, on 09/04/2008, -2/+15I wonder what their final exam is like
- ilikeeggs8877, on 09/04/2008, -1/+14I definitely see what you're saying, but look at it this way... I'm currently studying electrical engineering, I have to take a ton of math and physics classes but I do have to take a few electives over the course of four years. Classes that have nothing to do with my major but ones which will simply give me a broader perspective on life. I would love to take this class as an elective....
- kowcun, on 09/04/2008, -1/+10I hope I don't die.
- AtomicTheory, on 09/04/2008, -0/+9Yep, seize the carp.
- Meekus, on 09/04/2008, -1/+9I think there is definite value in a course like this in college. And I think it should be required for some majors. First, a medical student or psychology major would do well to learn about how people view, justify, and accept death to assist in their patient's care. Likewise those who wish to pursue a career in nursing.
- CindyMindy, on 09/04/2008, -5/+13Dugg for the douchebag.
- yeahaboutthat, on 09/04/2008, -0/+7I teach Death and Dying at a mid-Western University. The biggest challenge I face is that younger folks--who are my students by and large--are "hard-wired" to view themselves and others of their age as invincible. This mindset is an evolutionary remnant that gives children and young adults the drive to take risks, which ultimately provides new knowledge and perhaps new physical or mental skills. Nevertheless, when death touches their lives, another youthful perceptual trait often takes over--that being what MistaSkinner was alluding to above my comment, in that such events are viewed as catastrophic and fatalistic. The death of a young person, in particular, can deeply upset other young folks, for example, when a fellow student dies of cancer or is hit by a car.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that for centuries, families took care of their own decedents in terms of final disposition. In modern times, since the advent of the funeral home and public health concerns related to burial, etc., ordinary folks have now been excluded from those "behind the scenes" activities associated with body prep, and disposition. That's why we are so darned fascinated with shows like CSI.
As an instructor, I don't know if I'd pursue some of the viewing and participation options this teacher has chosen to employ--you never know how a particular student may react, and that concerns me deeply. Still, I admire her for doing what she believes are important aspects to teaching this interesting topic.... - BXRWXR, on 09/04/2008, -5/+11Whatever happened to Basket Weaving and Women's Studies?
- Groovester, on 09/03/2008, -12/+18Wow, pretty powerful stuff. It really made me think about mortality (which is a feat for being twenty-something) and how fragile every little step we take truely is. I guess the moral of this story is Carpe Diem.
- Neoanarchist, on 09/04/2008, -0/+6Wow that was an amazing article. The author completely captured the powerful (even if only for a few in the class) things that happen during this course. I think a lot of us would fare much better if we had a course like this under our belts.
We fear that which we do not understand, so why not try to understand death? I think it is narcissism and regret that drives part (if not most) of our fear of death. The thought that "I will no longer exist and can no longer contribute to society or do what I enjoy or fix what I have broken." For me that is the hurdle in confronting death. - Quicksilver4648, on 09/04/2008, -0/+6Man, get your own style.
- Lingur, on 09/04/2008, -0/+5"this is something we will ALL face in our life"
Speak for yourself buddy. I'm going out Disney style!
Then in 200 years when we have achieved immortality I'll be brought back Powers' style! - FreeTalkLIve, on 09/04/2008, -1/+5People just do stuff to take their mind off of the impending reality of eternal death.
That stuff is religion, drugs, drama, movies, games, bury themselves in work, get lost in the internet, and worry about Britney Sears. - yeahaboutthat, on 09/04/2008, -0/+4As a college professor, I disagree with most of what you've said. Plainly put, higher education has an overarching responsibility to educate young people to negotiate life, as well as to consider how death plays a role in human society. While I too understand your point about the "therapy session" orientation to the class, I suspect we are only getting a glimpse of how the class is actually structured and administered--there is likely much more "regular, good old book learning" going on that is evident in the article.
Finally, the inherent value of a college degree goes well beyond the employment prospects it offers the student. In our society, we look to those who have furthered their education to help others recognize and deal with the complexities of human nature in a way that we wouldn't necessarily expect from, say, a high school graduate. I'm not discounting "life" experience, but am merely pointing out that academic experiences, like the one we are discussing here, has both tangible and intangible benefits that can not simply be placed on a continuum of technical difficulty or usefulness in a given field. - aspec, on 09/04/2008, -2/+5"We're going to a funeral parlor and a prison. You're going to speak with someone on death row. Why did you wear a jersey?"
"Uh... it's almost laundry day?" - 1gunners4, on 09/04/2008, -0/+3Even the article is intense. In complete honesty, I'm not sure I'd be able to handle that class.
- JoJoDilio, on 09/04/2008, -0/+3My college offers a similar course, Death: Myth and Reality. I took it my Sophomore year (now a senior) and it was a very sobering class. Aside from studying the ways we die, and different spiritual beliefs about death, we actually watched videos of people dying (not snuff, but one of Dr. Kevorkian's patients for example).
Definitely a course I'd recommend to anyone who's college offers it. - RobotBuddha, on 09/04/2008, -0/+3That 'is' death. It's a complete snuffing out of a world. Everything a person saw, experienced, believed, hoped, dreamed. It's the entire world as he saw it and would see it in the future, snuffed out and obliterated for all time.
- RobotBuddha, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2Wow, I never would have thought a high school could get that in. Out of curiosity, how do you feel it influenced you?
- Dorian822, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2I think this should be a prerequisite to Driver's Ed. Maybe then teenagers would finally "get it."
- bodger, on 09/04/2008, -3/+5I can't wait for the new season of Dexter!
- inditech, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2Man that was moving. Excellent journalism - cheers for dig.
- gametavern, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2I would have serious problems with that course. I'd probably be in tears for half the emotional things. Death by itself isn't that emotional, but when you learn the stories behind the death. ..... whew.
- FredFredrickson, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2Why can't we embrace the present AND the future...?
- andyb747, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2The reason other countries look at death in that way is because they "believe" there is life after.....and we can't mention that on digg because every atheist will come here to bury the comment....
- castletech, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2sorry if I offended any ***** in sleeveless shirts.
- GraveyBrains, on 09/04/2008, -0/+2Ask them in sixty years.
- JessicaSarahS, on 09/05/2008, -0/+2Guess what, living people work at morgues, hospices and prisons too. So, just because a person works in a "gruesome" career, does that mean they're a sociopath? This class could help someone figure out whether or not they would have an interest in pursuing a career in such an area.
I have taken a similar course like this in college, and when you have a mature perspective to the subject matter, it was not morbid, but very thought provoking and interesting (and a little sad). - Diffy, on 09/04/2008, -2/+4I do not fear death, in view of the fact that I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
- Sardonic2U, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1They take a day trip to a suicide bomber school.....
- Narcism, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1@leon, that would require me listening to the music.
- shig, on 09/04/2008, -2/+3Should have called it "Life in Perspective".
- Scuzbucket, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1America is one of the few countries where death is looked upon so frightfully. A lot of Americans are truly scared of dying, and want to prolong their lives. Other countries i.e. Asian and Middle Eastern countries look upon death as a second coming of life, or entering another reality. Death is prestigious, and very ceremonial in these countries. Thinking about that ... it make the article that more interesting.
- brettg102, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1I took this class in highschool, albeit it was called "Death and Life" we did the same stuff ala funeral homes, morgues, mortuary schools, and hospice clinics.
- Narcism, on 09/04/2008, -2/+3Do you like Linkin Park too?
Just kidding, I know noone listens to Linkin Park. - LeonHRodriguez, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1(The professor is a woman)
- nutzngum, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1In high school I lost seven classmates over the space of three years; five were suicides, the rest accidents. In that same period of time, I lost both my grand mothers and my biological father (cancer, cancer, wasp sting). I did not cry over any of them.
Several years later, a friend of mine - who had also been my roommate for a few months and was HIV+ passed away. One evening as I was working as a dj at a local bar, a mutual friend of ours called me before I was heading to work and asked if I could do him a favour and play "The Rose" by Bette Midler at midnight. I asked why, and was told that my friend (John) was going to die at midnight and it was his favourite song. He had arranged with a physician to come by and help him end his life peacefully, on his terms. At midnight I played the song for him. I almost cried that night, but forced myself to keep it to myself.
Two years ago my stepfather passed away, in his sleep, at the age of 93. He had been a father to me since I was just about two years old. The day before he died, he and my mother sat in the back yard where they ate lunch and talked and had a glass or two of wine. It was a sunny, clear day and not a cloud in the sky. I spoke with my mother and she said that when she checked in on my Dad the morning she found him dead, he was in the exact same position he was when she said goodnight, so we know he passed away peacefully.
His death caused me to cry like a little girl.
My point? I haven't one, really - death is a mystery to me and if affects different people in different ways at different times. - RobotBuddha, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1That's fantastic! I wish there were some way to get something like that put into high school classes. I was surrounded by a lot of death very early on in my life. I was bitter about it for a while, until I really realized how much good it'd done me compared to my more sheltered peers. It's a lot harder to appreciate life when you don't really understand, at a gut level, that death is a certainty. Or just how unpleasant it can really be.
- hiPpymIck, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1re therapy/coming to terns with death..
wiki has an informative entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grief - Morsetlis, on 09/05/2008, -0/+1*battle res*
- brettg102, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1We were a private, catholic school...it would be tough to get it into a public curriculum. I've long been exposed to death (my fathers family owns a rather large funeral home and my uncle is a mortician and I've done things such as help move rather large bodies) and have thus become rather numb to it. Death is a rather good business to be in (everyone does it at least once!).
Seeing the human side of death in hospice clinics was the most touching obviously as I had been totally numbed to the actual bodies of it...putting a story to the death does alot. It was a good class, and especially much better than the ***** theology classes that were alternatives. - brettg102, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1Re-reading that I say "rather" way to ***** much.
- hiPpymIck, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1
you could say their existence isnt entirely lost or wasted
if good memories of them live on in the ppl they knew - andyb747, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1I explained..... but somehow it showed up a few comments below
- LeonHRodriguez, on 09/04/2008, -0/+1Just for fun, go back through their discography and count how many times Chester says "pain" throughout their songs. Quite astounding, really.
- DirtySanch, on 09/05/2008, -0/+1Good point we talked a little about this in Psych 1, how having a reasonable perspective on death can make you look at life in a whole new way. Very interesting topic, and great article.
- bluefirefrog, on 09/05/2008, -0/+1Here's another version taken from an actual tombstone:
Hark all ye who pass me by,
As you are now so once was I,
As I am now so you will be,
Prepare for death and follow me. -
Show 51 - 71 of 71 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is