July 28, 2007

• When Are We Dead?

  This used to be a fairly easy question, although sometimes we got it wrong based on scratches on coffin lids.

  It’s harder these days when one considers ventilators, artificial hearts, pacemakers, etc.  It’s actually a much debated question in medicine and philosophy (areas that I love).

  I live considerably in both my brain and body.  I completed my MD degree and am working on my MA degree in bioethics.  If my higher brain function stopped and I could no longer participate in those worlds I would consider myself dead and be unwilling to continue and pissed off if I were forced to.  I live extensively in my body too.  I’m reminded of a couple of lines from a movie where one said that he treats his body like a temple and the other say’s “and I treat mine like an amusement park.”  Yep, even though I can still get into clothes I wore in high school, I treat my body like an amusement park.

  I believe I’ve blogged on this point before: I have instructed my wife that the first time I shit in my pants I want her to get a gun and shoot me, and that she loves me so much and is so intent on fulfilling my wishes that every time I break wind she grabs a gun and checks my drawers.

  If I could not think or recognize those around me, or if my body disintegrated into something which only kept my brain alive I would consider myself to be dead.

  When would you be dead?

  • 3:54 pm
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