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Non-religious emergency responders/medicos of Lemmy, do you believe that something is 'missing' when looking at a corpse? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 10 months ago by Bluetreefrog to c/asklemmy

46 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Firefighter here. I was reflecting on a fatality I attended recently. My thoughts wandered to how a body looks like it is 'just matter' in a way that a living thing does not, even when sleeping. Previously I assumed this observation was just something to do with traumatic death, but this person seemed to have died peacefully and the same, 'absence' of something was obvious.

I'm not a religious person, but it made me wonder if there actually is something that 'leaves' when someone dies (beyond the obvious breathing, pulse etc).

I'm not looking for a 'my holy book says', kind of discussion here, but rather a reflection on the direct, lived experiences of people who see death regularly.

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[–] mawkishdave 35 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There is a lot that is missing, your body has to do a lot just function. We get so used to seeing these things that when you don't it looks just wrong. It's the same issue that is showing up when companies try to make robots with human faces, they are not doing the normal things a person's body does and this looks just wrong to us like something is missing. That is why it's better to make robots that don't look too close to humans so it don't look so weird.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

That is why it's better to make robots that don't look too close to humans so it doesn't look so weird.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

Yup, if the robot looks nothing like a real human or it resembles a human perfectly, then everything feels fine. But, in between is where it feels weird.

[–] Sunstream 3 points 10 months ago

Yeah it's true, isn't it. Humans will literally empathise more with a rock with a smiley face painted on than a realistic robot.