13th February 2009, 03:32 PM
It's not exactly a spanner but. . .
I'm actually undecided, depending on what day it is. Actual reburial, after some thought on the matter, is perhaps not an ideal way to go.
On the one hand I'd be happy to see a sort of mausoleum setup where boxed skeletons could be stored (with the acknowledgement that this is but a variation on the current storage facilities availabe in most museums).
BUT on other days, I think it's a bloody good idea to have a healthy dose of 'staring death in the face' every now and again to remind us of our mortality and perhaps stimulate us into making the best of what we have. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is to quite literally stare death in the face.
Given that a reductionist approach would have skeletal remains as interesting arrangements of calcium and nothing more, is this whole reburrial issue nothing more than sentimentalism? When sometimes entire ritually interred animals turn up, we don't see the same objections to putting them on display.
Is this mothing more than a variation of the Bambi effect, where we feel mammals are alright, but snakes and invetbrates can go hang?
I'm actually undecided, depending on what day it is. Actual reburial, after some thought on the matter, is perhaps not an ideal way to go.
On the one hand I'd be happy to see a sort of mausoleum setup where boxed skeletons could be stored (with the acknowledgement that this is but a variation on the current storage facilities availabe in most museums).
BUT on other days, I think it's a bloody good idea to have a healthy dose of 'staring death in the face' every now and again to remind us of our mortality and perhaps stimulate us into making the best of what we have. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is to quite literally stare death in the face.
Given that a reductionist approach would have skeletal remains as interesting arrangements of calcium and nothing more, is this whole reburrial issue nothing more than sentimentalism? When sometimes entire ritually interred animals turn up, we don't see the same objections to putting them on display.
Is this mothing more than a variation of the Bambi effect, where we feel mammals are alright, but snakes and invetbrates can go hang?