Donating your body to science, vs a burial. Who else?

stuart in mn said:

gearheadmb said:

Am i allowed to be buried on my own property? I think i would like to build my own casket and be buried in my backyard

Playing the devil's advocate, would you be willing to buy a property that had someone buried on it?  That would be the dilemma faced by your survivors.  It may not be an issue for some buyers, but it would probably deter many others.

Agreed, I can see why people did it way-back-when but it seems like a bit of a jerk move these days, especially if the property isn't some big ultra-rural place that you expect will stay in the family forever.

stuart in mn said:

gearheadmb said:

Am i allowed to be buried on my own property? I think i would like to build my own casket and be buried in my backyard

Playing the devil's advocate, would you be willing to buy a property that had someone buried on it?  That would be the dilemma faced by your survivors.  It may not be an issue for some buyers, but it would probably deter many others.

That would be a selling point for me honestly. I get to live in a potentially haunted house? berkeleying awesome

RevRico said:

stuart in mn said:

gearheadmb said:

Am i allowed to be buried on my own property? I think i would like to build my own casket and be buried in my backyard

Playing the devil's advocate, would you be willing to buy a property that had someone buried on it?  That would be the dilemma faced by your survivors.  It may not be an issue for some buyers, but it would probably deter many others.

That would be a selling point for me honestly. I get to live in a potentially haunted house? berkeleying awesome

This is the exact reaction my girlfriend would have. Bonus points if the person buried on the property died inside the house.

Donating body is a good gesture for humanity but I don't think I am that brave. 

z31maniac said:

RevRico said:

That would be a selling point for me honestly. I get to live in a potentially haunted house? berkeleying awesome

This is the exact reaction my girlfriend would have. Bonus points if the person buried on the property died inside the house.

Meanwhile in Taiwan, an apartment is unsellable if an old lady dies in her sleep in it

I would see it as a bit of a negative to have a grave on the property...it makes a bit of the property kind of useless. Plus if some relative of the deceased comes by and wants to visit it, you'd have to be a jerk to turn them down.

oldopelguy said:

Shortly thereafter a sheriff friend told me about the father of a mutual friend from high school who when his wife died actually did stack up wood for a proper pyre. Seems he used up about 3 cord of wood and had to pay a $75 improper disposal of a body ticket, which is probably the best deal going. 

That is simultaneously the most Epic and Disturbing thing I have read in some time. 

GameboyRMH said:

daeman said:

Did anyone see the news regarding a body donation place in Arizona?

I've refrained from posting a link as it may upset some. But it would pay to check the credentials of the place you're donating your body to if you actually care what may happen to it.

I posted a link on the first page...it does describe an incredibly grisly situation.

So after reading these posts, I've decided that if I'm made dictator of the world, the death industry will be among the first 10 I nationalize (and then I'll integrate it with health care because they already have the morgues and crematoriums etc.)

I missed that, my bad. Whilst quite disturbing, it may well have been quite interesting and almost some kind of morbid art depending on your view point.... definitely not as scientific an approach as Gunther von Hagen. Bodyworld's is incredible, albeit confronting. 

Yeah, gouging money from people for dying is a bastard act. I don't want to stop people from spending money how they choose, but the fact that people are conditioned to believe the only way to show you care is via extravagance and that lower cost options are more or less concealed or frowned upon just isn't right.

GameboyRMH said:

stuart in mn said:

gearheadmb said:

Am i allowed to be buried on my own property? I think i would like to build my own casket and be buried in my backyard

Playing the devil's advocate, would you be willing to buy a property that had someone buried on it?  That would be the dilemma faced by your survivors.  It may not be an issue for some buyers, but it would probably deter many others.

Agreed, I can see why people did it way-back-when but it seems like a bit of a jerk move these days, especially if the property isn't some big ultra-rural place that you expect will stay in the family forever.

The property is ultra rural and the house is 125 years old. I'd be suprised if there isnt somebody buried here already.

Mark Twain had a lot to say about the undertaking business and funerals...very funny stuff. I couldn't find the passage I was looking for, but a quick search gives me this. The fictional undertaker was talking to Twain about the business.

There's one thing in this world which isn't ever cheap. That's a coffin. There's one thing in this world which a person don't ever try to   --- you down on. That's a coffin. There's one thing in this world which a person don't say-- 'I'll look around a little, and if I find I can't do better I'll come back and take it.' That's a coffin. There's one thing in this world which a person won't take in pine if he can go walnut; and won't take in walnut if he can go mahogany; and won't take in mahogany if he can go an iron casket with silver door-plate and bronze handles. That's a coffin. And there's one thing in this world which you don't have to worry around after a person to get him to pay for. And that's a coffin. Undertaking?--why it's the dead-surest business in Christendom, and the nobbiest.
- Life on the Mississippi