when we die - food for thought
catefrances
Posts: 29,003
You want a physicist to speak at your funeral. You want the physicist to talk to your grieving family about the conservation of energy, so they will understand that your energy has not died. You want the physicist to remind your sobbing mother about the first law of thermodynamics; that no energy gets created in the universe, and none is destroyed. You want your mother to know that all your energy, every vibration, every Btu of heat, every wave of every particle that was her beloved child remains with her in this world. You want the physicist to tell your weeping father that amid energies of the cosmos, you gave as good as you got.
And at one point you'd hope that the physicist would step down from the pulpit and walk to your brokenhearted spouse there in the pew and tell him that all the photons that ever bounced off your face, all the particles whose paths were interrupted by your smile, by the touch of your hair, hundreds of trillions of particles, have raced off like children, their ways forever changed by you. And as your widow rocks in the arms of a loving family, may the physicist let her know that all the photons that bounced from you were gathered in the particle detectors that are her eyes, that those photons created within her constellations of electromagnetically charged neurons whose energy will go on forever.
And the physicist will remind the congregation of how much of all our energy is given off as heat. There may be a few fanning themselves with their programs as he says it. And he will tell them that the warmth that flowed through you in life is still here, still part of all that we are, even as we who mourn continue the heat of our own lives.
And you'll want the physicist to explain to those who loved you that they need not have faith; indeed, they should not have faith. Let them know that they can measure, that scientists have measured precisely the conservation of energy and found it accurate, verifiable and consistent across space and time. You can hope your family will examine the evidence and satisfy themselves that the science is sound and that they'll be comforted to know your energy's still around. According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone; you're just less orderly. Amen.
-Aaron Freeman
http://thankgodforevolution.com/node/1960
And at one point you'd hope that the physicist would step down from the pulpit and walk to your brokenhearted spouse there in the pew and tell him that all the photons that ever bounced off your face, all the particles whose paths were interrupted by your smile, by the touch of your hair, hundreds of trillions of particles, have raced off like children, their ways forever changed by you. And as your widow rocks in the arms of a loving family, may the physicist let her know that all the photons that bounced from you were gathered in the particle detectors that are her eyes, that those photons created within her constellations of electromagnetically charged neurons whose energy will go on forever.
And the physicist will remind the congregation of how much of all our energy is given off as heat. There may be a few fanning themselves with their programs as he says it. And he will tell them that the warmth that flowed through you in life is still here, still part of all that we are, even as we who mourn continue the heat of our own lives.
And you'll want the physicist to explain to those who loved you that they need not have faith; indeed, they should not have faith. Let them know that they can measure, that scientists have measured precisely the conservation of energy and found it accurate, verifiable and consistent across space and time. You can hope your family will examine the evidence and satisfy themselves that the science is sound and that they'll be comforted to know your energy's still around. According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone; you're just less orderly. Amen.
-Aaron Freeman
http://thankgodforevolution.com/node/1960
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
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Comments
but wow ! what trippy artical.
Godfather.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Freeman
Godfather.
The idea of becoming less orderly is kind of appealing too. It's so much work to remain orderly.
Agree Jeanwah! Hopefully I can find this again on my death bed!
Brianlux - appealing to know you can be a rebel past the 'end'!!!!
Cool to think that our energy will be 'recycled' in a way - not destroyed, just changing form.. from one to another until.....
Weisman's book is fascinating!. I really enjoyed it. It's a thought experiment based around the idea of what would happen to the world if humans were to suddenly vanish off the face of the earth. But more than just the wispy speculation which that description infers, Weisman really digs into a wide variety of subjects creating a unique look the world and our effect on it. There's a chapter that describes what would happen to New York City if we disappeared and one that talks about what would happen with our nuclear waste. The whole book is intriguing- I couldn't put it down and it ends on a very thought provoking philosophical note.
I believe there was a television adaptation to the book as well, or something similar. It was shocking.
Oh! I'd like to see that!
Cool. That book looks interesting.
but mostly we go through a gross metabolic decomposition process in which the whole of our human shell becomes a bunch of rot and decay
"when we die - food for worms" is more like it
UNLESS,
well then yes, of course
reminds me.......
...to be an organ donor?
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
its why we sense things we cant necessarily see.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
I am already, but to start a nice thread about it is what I am reminded of