Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Oregon has legalized human composting

vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 240 posts

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#231

Post by notdang »

drdavid wrote: post #164
yosamino wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope when it's time for me, I can simply be flushed down the drain: > Alkaline hydrolysis is also used in the agricultural industry to sterilize animal carcasses that may pose a health hazard, because the process inactivates viruses, bacteria, and prions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_hydrolysis_(body_disp...

I'd like a sky burial in Tibet, but that ain't gonna happen (at least not legally) unless things change.

You would be dead and wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#232

Post by CryptoPunk »

science4sail wrote: post #227
CryptoPunk wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With respect to graves especially, they are an archeological treasure trove. If in the far far future we develop a means of resurrecting the dead, the epitaphs on tombstones may be used to determine who deserves resurrection. But of course this is extremely fanciful speculation.

> If in the far far future we develop a means of resurrecting the dead, the epitaphs on tombstones may be used to determine who deserves resurrection. But of course this is extremely fanciful speculation. That's unlikely unless the dead person is exceptionally well-preserved (or you're just creating Generic Human Body #42 and giving it the dead person's name). Brain structure doesn't really survive current burial/emb…

I was thinking more along the lines of technology that can scan back through time, and record a person's neural patterns at the point of death. This would require being able to open at least observation-only portals through time, or that there exist some high-fidelity natural recordings of events on Earth encoded in some substrate in the universe, that last millions of years, and that are high-resolution enough to enable full copying of the past state of a human brain, that one day humanity could recover.

How such a feat could be accomplished, I don't know, but capabilities that seem impossible today may become possible with millions of years of technological progress, especially if the exponential phase of technological progress continues for a while longer.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#233

Post by curryst »

Auracle wrote: post #214
jacobolus wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that the EPA does not allow you to dump human corpses in lakes. You also need to go >3 miles out to sea. https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/burial-sea

I wonder how big of a trebuchet you’d need to launch a body 3 miles.

I don't even know if that's possible. 3 miles is a long way, and bodies are squishy and... easy to separate, relative to a rock or bullet.

The speed you would need to get that far might be high enough for the force to tear off limbs or to shred the skin. The chances of you getting a permit after you put "might rain human limbs or remains on the beach" is very low.

You'd probably have better luck with little solar-powered, GPS-guided dinghys or kayaks that can go out 3 miles, drop the body and come back.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#234

Post by meristohm »

Erik816 wrote: post #104
meristohm wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone disturbed by the thought of a body being turned with a hook, consider who that person is since they died. My perspective is that they’re a memory in whoever remembers. They have lasting impacts to varying degrees. Now they are a collection of elements, much of which supports many other living things. I care that the body is processed in a way towards most ecological reciprocity, whatever that may be for th…

Treating our dead with respect is probably one of the oldest signs of human culture. People care a lot about the bodies of their deceased loved ones. See Antigone by Sophocles. You're welcome to your views, but most people have strong, deeply felt emotions and opinions on how dead bodies should be properly handled.

I respect the bodies, and the land, water, air, and other bodies that made them, which is why I prefer my remnants be digested by microbes with minimal resource-cost so long as it is safe enough for the land. We’re so spoiled with luxuries like embalming and fancy boxes. Abstraction layers may still feel like respect, but they distance us from the core of survival, which is the health of the other living things here. How can we shift our strong, deeply-felt emotions around dead bodies?

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#235

Post by meristohm »

mirkules wrote: post #150
meristohm wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone disturbed by the thought of a body being turned with a hook, consider who that person is since they died. My perspective is that they’re a memory in whoever remembers. They have lasting impacts to varying degrees. Now they are a collection of elements, much of which supports many other living things. I care that the body is processed in a way towards most ecological reciprocity, whatever that may be for th…

Your phrasing is very interesting: "consider who that person is since they died." It's interesting because you refer to the dead person in the present tense, "who it is," not "who it was". Yet, in the following sentence you say "they are a collection of elements." Even when attempting to state "cold hard facts," we cannot help but exhibit our humanity, and it's a reminder why we should treat the dead with respect. In…

That was intentional, nodding to the dead living on in living memory.

I’m okay with the spark of life being a result of a collection of stuff and the interactions amongst it all.

I treat the dead with respect because I’m my own panopticon.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#236

Post by developer93 »

incrudible wrote: post #162
paulpauper wrote: post #61

Recompose, the country’s first human composting funeral home does it like this: a corpse is placed in a cylinder with organic materials, like wood chips, plants, and straw, then heated and turned repeatedly for several weeks with a hook until it’s broken down into a nutrient-rich soil that can be delivered back to the family or used for planting. It's like what the mafia used to do to dissolve bodies

This is abhorrent, as if it was taken unironically out of a dystopian science fiction novel. Decomposition is a natural process that happens to any corpse. It does not need to be optimized. That said, it does not need to be slowed down with embalming either.

It actually is used in at least one sci fi novel, although not at all dystopian, Becky Chambers 3rd wayfarer novel: Record of a spaceborn few. I read the first 3 and highly recommend them, the world (universe?) building is wonderful, and the characters are sympathetic and well written. I'm saving the next one for when I next feel down, there's only 5, don't want to finish them too soon!

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#237

Post by developer93 »

datameta wrote: post #3

> Cremation–in which a body is burned into ash—is an energy suck and emits damaging pollutants and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. > a corpse is placed in a cylinder with organic materials, like wood chips, plants, and straw, then heated and turned repeatedly for several weeks with a hook until it’s broken down into a nutrient-rich soil I wonder how much energy it takes to complete…

How does anyone? Buy from a green provider or plan.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#238

Post by developer93 »

grishka wrote: post #181

These comments are so depressing. I really hope that we'll figure out a way to reverse aging in the coming decades so death becomes optional.

Can you imagine living for ever? We'd have even more of a population problem, unless you can find a way to stop having kids, and even then I feel like it would make for a stagnant society.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#239

Post by developer93 »

qPM9l3XJrF wrote: post #201

Composting releases CO2 into the atmosphere. Despite the treehugging vibe, it actually makes global warming worse.

I believe that's only true for anaerobic composting, the stinky one, using mostly greens (nitrogen). Aerobic composting, which most people do in their back yard, mixing greens and browns (carbon) is fine.
Post reply on HN