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Science Buzz is supported by the National Science Foundation.
Copyright © Science Museum of Minnesota, 2004-2023, except where noted.
I find it disrespectful because people are people dead or alive.
well there dead it would give there families a piece of mind to know wat happened and if somone killed them to have that person behind bars
I belive that as long as I help save lives when my life has ended, then it's a good thing. I'd rather help prevent the death of others that might :die" of the same reasons that I did.
You know, honestly, if we're talking respect, then perhaps "The Body Farm" isn't the best term to use. Its proper name is the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility. Of course, that's a mouthful, so "the decomposition facility" is the term I tend to use.
That said, I really like the idea of donating my body to this facility. The research they do is fascinating, and if it will help solve crimes, so much the better. And if the bodies are there with permission of their former owners, then I see no disrespect. They knew what they were getting into when they chose to donate. And after all, what happens to the bodies that lie out there is the exact same thing that happens to any other body; it's only a question of when and where.
I agree with EWatson02 here. I wasn't even sure what "Body Farm" meant but had some idea as far as which institution I would donate my body to.
I have no problem giving away my body after I die but I would have to see what purpose they are going to use it for. If they are going to use it for medical research or something like Body Worlds exhibit... hell yeah!.
as long as i could still get a ceremony it would be great
why would you do somthing like that
May be because it is based on the person and what he/she want to do.
I'm not sure if I could do that or not. I do plan on donating my organs, etc. when I die.
I'm also a listed organ donor, but don't know if I'd want to donate my body. It just seems strange, even though it would probably be a good thing to do. I wonder where the tradition came from that we all have our bodies buried. Is it religiously based?
That is the current theory. There is some evidence (though this is highly disputed) that Neanderthals were the first hominids to use intentional, ceremonial burial. It is suggested that grave goods, or artifacts found with a buried body, are an indicator of a more spiritual "purpose" behind burial. It is also suggested that bodies are buried for health reasons; however, it isn't necessarily a health standard. According to the World Health Organization, only bodies that carry an infectious disease require it. Indeed, not all cultures practice burial: in India, the vast majority of bodies (though there are exceptions) are cremated. The ashes are then cast into the Ganges River. And in some Buddhist countries, they practice what is called "sky burial": that is, they leave the body in an open space and let it be eaten by vultures, or whatever happens along.
The "tradition" of bodies burials was a sceintific discovery. Scientists descovered that burying a corpse at minium of 6 feet underground stopped the smell of decomposing flesh so that animals couldn't smell the body, dig it up and eat it.
You might be pushing it with the 6 feet (minimum) underground thing being a carefully developed scientific advance. It's not like there were guys in lab coats with a row of graves of varying depths. But, yeah, I suppose the gradual development of a better way of dealing with your dead is a science-like thing.
Interesting sort of cultural-materialist viewpoint.
You might take it further, though, and ask why some cultures felt the need to protect their dead with that "scientific discovery." Maybe it was just a sanitary thing, and they didn't want wild animals hanging around the camp or village. But then why not just drag the body a ways off, or even burn it? Either of those things would be easier than digging a grave, right? (That's a rhetorical question—spend a few afternoons digging post holes, and then see how eager you are to dig a 6-foot-deep, person-sized hole.) So, yeah—maybe the practice of burial was a quasi-scientific development, but why develop it in the first place?
I am not sure if I were to donate my body to science or to donate my organs, that the doctor's would do everything that they should do to save me.
According to the Hippocratic Oath that doctors swear to follow, they are to "in every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing." Plus, if they intentionally take your organs against your will, they'll lose you as a good, paying patient.
Yeah, you know, I've heard that sort of thing before—that emergency personnel won't try as hard to save your life if you are, say, an organ donor.
Obviously that's the sort of thing people can get freaked out about, but it really is nonsense. I mean, I've known EMTs, and my own dad worked in an emergency room, and all of those folks would do everything possible to keep you alive in an emergency, no matter what it says on your driver's license.
The issue of allowing someone to die is a big controversy in medicine these days, but it takes place in courtrooms and lawyers' offices, not in ambulances and emergency rooms. You can be pretty confident that no one will take your organs or body before you want them to.
its desrespectful because you are to rest in peace when you die!
You know, a lot of people have been using this argument, and it puzzles me. What exactly is meant by "rest"? Or "peace"? Because as far as I'm concerned, what happens to the body after death is neither restful nor peaceful. Decomposition is an ongoing process, and whether you're lying in a coffin in a cemetery somewhere or lying on the ground at a facility, that process will be the same. (And anyway, there are bodies at the facility that ARE placed in coffins underground.) If the "rest in peace" argument presumes that the dead will not be treated with the utmost respect at such a facility, then it completely underestimates the scientists that work there. And anyway, being in a cemetery doesn't necessarily guarantee permanence, since in some places, bodies get moved all the time. So really...whether you're in a cemetery or a facility, what difference does it make?
I agree
No i wouldn't want anybody to see my insides and all that good stuff. I think RIP stands for reat in peace not Research my Insides for People
I think this would help solve crimes and maybe lead to saving a life
I believe that donating your body or remains to the Body Farm is a step to improvement in the area of science and criminal justice.
never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i agree with EWaston02!!
Sounds like an excellent idea to me ... it would give a lot of humans that were of no real use to society while living ... some contribution back to society in their death.
Cemetaries and Country Clubs are the worst wastes of real estate that man has ever invented (Caddyshack) ...... someday at least cemetaries will be obsolete.
Personally, I am going to be dead in the next week or two.
I don't want to be cremated or buried, I want to be put on display on the dead human art gallery. I feel that the particular injuries and life I have survived that it would be beneficial to show my special injuries and my god what does a body look like after being eaten up by tic infestation and since the dr. has u labeled as a liar then you don't get help. Well this is me. No help. So I feel that it's in the publics best interest that I donate my body to this cuz I would hate to think that the knowledge this bod has gained in its 46 yrs will not dissapoint or compare to anyone already on display. I gladly open my heart to this. I am dead anyways, please get back to me.
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