When someone dies

[Peter]

We just found out that the brother of a friend of my daughter, just died in an automobile accident. He was riding as a passenger in a car when the driver of his car failed to yield the right of way, and his side was struck, killing him, at the age of 28.

I just mentioned to my wife, this is a catastrophe, that can truly sadden his family’s life forever. And what if it needs to be a closed casket funeral, like many of those soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan?

I recently saw on the internet an ad to create a cartoon of yourself, based on a picture of you, for a modest fee. A truly good service would be to film everyone in your family whether they are about to go into harm’s way or not. We never know.

Using today’s technology, a film and an avatar with the subject’s voice, and with a computer generated personality could be created. In contests, computers can just about fool anyone now. Is it a computer or a person on the other end?

I don’t think this idea is ghoulish. Quite the contrary, it would be a blessing, for someone grieving. You would not just have a picture or a video of the deceased, you could have a facsimile of them talking to you.

I hope someone reads this and starts this service.

Peter Taylor

[jeffrey smith]

I think overall it's a counterproductive idea, simply another way for the mourner to obsess over the dead.

The entire goal of a successful mourning period (if you can apply that adjective to mourning) is allow the mourner to accept the fact that the dead person is dead, but that the mourner is not--that the mourner has a life still to live, and while carrying on a project the dead person was involved with, or working to forward their goals is acceptable, focusing on the "dear departed" is not.

If you are thinking of a one time farewall from the deceased to his/her family and friends, that would merely be continuing with the tradition of ethical wills--see here if you aren't familiar with them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_will

And I don't see anything especially troubling about closed casket funerals; no doubt that's because being Jewish, I'm from a tradition in which closed caskets are the norm (if caskets are used in the first place; in Israel, they are not, the deceased being simply buried in a shroud).

Edited January 27, 2010 by jeffrey smith

[Peter]

jeffrey smith wrote:

I think overall it's a counterproductive idea, simply another way for the mourner to obsess over the dead.

end quote

Just after I wrote my letter, I chanced upon a show called, "Caprica," on SyFy and it was about computerized Avatars, and obsessing. The show was very good and I will continue to watch the series. It starred the actor who played Nathan Branden on, "The Passion of Ayn Rand."

That would definitely be going too far. The Avatar thinks they are that person, or at least a version of that person, because while alive, the human, visits, talks, and walks with the Avatar via a computer program.

My idea is for something just beyond a video.

The Orthodox Jewish custom of no casket is interesting. I alternate between wanting a plain pine box and one of the Great Pyramids, visible from space.

Peter

[Chris Grieb]

jeffrey smith wrote:

I think overall it's a counterproductive idea, simply another way for the mourner to obsess over the dead.

end quote

Just after I wrote my letter, I chanced upon a show called, "Caprica," on SyFy and it was about computerized Avatars, and obsessing. The show was very good and I will continue to watch the series. It starred the actor who played Nathan Branden on, "The Passion of Ayn Rand."

That would definitely be going too far. The Avatar thinks they are that person, or at least a version of that person, because while alive, the human, visits, talks, and walks with the Avatar via a computer program.

My idea is for something just beyond a video.

The Orthodox Jewish custom of no casket is interesting. I alternate between wanting a plain pine box and one of the Great Pyramids, visible from space.

Peter

Peter; I suppose you want the slaves to build a Great Pyramid. I like the idea of a Viking funeral.