Tag: Death

Should you be merciful towards robots? [Article]

More & more robots are getting into mainstream work, replacing humans at a fraction of the cost – an industrialist’s dream come true. They’re also becoming more human-like in their appearances, as Scott Adams points out, and asks the question: ‘Who has the right to kill a robot?’ But more importantly, as this other article about a 2007 research discovers, the way humans relate to ‘human-like’ machines is changing too – discover how

What determines life span? [art/article]

Photographer / blogger Yunfan Tan chronicles the lifespan of plants of all sizes, & this article, referring to it, claims that Life is short for small creatures, longer in big ones. Not true, say the biologists who have commented on this blog post, & caution us against mistaking art for research. Interesting pictures, nonetheless.

You are going to die [Article]

The older you get, the more your chances of dying? The mortality rate for humans, in case you were avoiding even considering it, is 100%. Tim Krieder visited the age care facility that his mother chose to move into well before she got sick or unhealthy or unable to take care of herself, & his emotions & thoughts come gushing out. Worth reading “You are going to die“.

Suicide, Assisted [Essays]

Warning: Approach this topic only if you think you are willing to stress test your belief system about life, death & the role medicine. 
Drs. Howard Ball, Philip Nitschke, & Patrick  Lee put forth their views, for & against, on a topic that is guaranteed to shake the very foundations of our concepts of ethics, law & policy as it applies to death. In a couple of states in the US, a terminally ill patient can ask for & receive a prescription from his doctor that can end his life. Physician assisted death (PAD) differs from euthanasia – where the doctor administers the lethal amount to his patient (remember Dr. Jack Kevorkian?).  Dr. Bell opens the discussion with an overview of the ethics, law & policy conflicts of PAD in America. Dr. Nitschke reacts with his opposition to the decriminalization & medicalization of suicide. Dr. Lee wants PAD to remain illegal, & explains why. The discussion continues with Ball responding to the detractors.

Would anyone miss you? [Trailer]

What if you died & no one knew? From a review of a disturbing documentary, “Dreams of a life”, here’s an excerpt: ” In January 2006, reports broke in London newspapers that Joyce Carol Vincent had been found dead in her bedsit flat in Wood Green, a northern suburb of the city. She was in her late thirties. She had been tall, vivacious and always smartly dressed—she reminded some people of Whitney Houston. She had had an Indian mother and a West Indian father; they were dead now, but Joyce had sisters. No cause of death could be ascertained because she had been dead for nearly three years. The sketch of a corpse was there on the sofa, a window was slightly open, and the television was still playing.”

I will always be there with you [Letters of note]

On May 1st of 2003, just weeks after being deployed to Iraq, Army Pfc. Jesse A. Givens, of Springfield, Missouri was killed when his tank fell into the Euphrates river. He was 34-years-old. Shortly after his death, this letter was delivered to his bereaved wife, Melissa, and his 6-year-old stepson, Dakota (“Toad”). Melissa and Jesse’s unborn child, Carson (“Bean”), entered the world on the 29th of May, a few weeks after his father’s death.