When I die, I would like for my body to be laid out to be eaten by animals. Having your body laid out to be eaten by animals is not for everyone. Maybe you have already had the end-of-life talk with your family and decided on, cremation. In America, our death traditions have come to be chemical embalming, followed by burial at your local cemetery, or, more recently, cremation.
我死后,我愿將自己的尸體放在野外被動吃掉。將自己的尸體放在野外,被動物吃掉并不適合所有人?;蛟S你已經跟家人聊過身后事,并且決定火化。在美國,我們對待逝者慣常的做法是先用化學藥劑做防腐處理,再土葬在當地的墓園里,或者,近來更多的是實行火葬。
I myself, am a recent vegetarian, which means I spent the first 30 years or so of my life frantically inhaling animals — as many as I could get my hands on. Why, when I die, should they not have their turn with me? Am I not an animal? Biologically speaking, are we not all, in this room, animals? Accepting the fact that we are animals has some potentially terrifying consequences. It means accepting that we are doomed to decay and die, just like any other creature on earth.
我本人最近成為了素食者,也就是說,我人生的頭三十年左右的時間都在瘋狂的大吃動物,能吃多少吃多少。那么我死后,為什么不該輪到它們來吃我了呢?我難道不是一種動物么?從生物學上說,難道我們在座各位不都是動物么?接受我們也是動物這一事實,會造成一些潛在的可怕的后果。這意味著要接受我們注定要腐爛和消亡,就像地球上其他生物一樣。
The funeral industry promotes this idea of human exceptionalism. It doesn't matter what it takes, how much it costs, how bad it is for the environment, we're gonna to do it because humans are worth it! I absolutely understand the importance of ritual, especially when it comes to the people that we love. But we have to be able to create and practice this ritual without harming the environment, which is why we need new options.
喪葬業推廣了人類例外主義這一觀點。無論要采取怎樣的手段,無論要花多少錢,無論會對環境造成多大的破壞,都要這么做,因為人類值得受到這樣的待遇。我絕對理解儀式的重要性,特別是跟我們所愛的人有關時。但我們必須能夠在不破壞環境的前提下來創造和實行這種儀式,因此我們需要新的選擇。
So let's return to the idea of protection, sanitation and beautification. We'll start with a dead body. The funeral industry will protect your dead body by offering to sell your family a casket made of hardwood or metal with a rubber sealant. At the cemetery, on the day of burial, that casket will be lowered into a large concrete or metal vault. Next, the industry will sanitize your body through embalming: the chemical preservation of the dead. Embalming is a cheat code, providing the illusion that death and then decay are not the natural end for all organic life on this planet.
那我們再回來說說保護,消毒和美化的概念。我們就從一具死尸開始吧。喪葬業為了保護死者尸體會賣給家屬一副用硬木材或金屬所制并涂了橡膠密封劑的棺材。到了下葬那天,在墓園里,這個棺材會被放進一個大的混凝土或金屬墓穴里。第二,喪葬業會通過防腐技術對尸體進行消毒,對死者進行化學防腐。做防腐處理就像在作弊,會給人一種幻覺,以為死亡和腐爛并非這個星球上所有有機生命的自然歸宿。
So where do we go from here? A colleague of mine named Katrina Spade is attempting to create a system, not of cremating the dead, but composting the dead. She imagines a facility where the family could come and lay their dead loved one in a nutrient-rich mixture that would, in four-to-six weeks, reduce the body — bones and all — to soil. In those four-to-six weeks, your molecules become other molecules; you literally transform.
那么到底該怎么辦呢?我有一個叫Katrina Spade的同事,正在嘗試開發一種系統,不把死者火化,而是把死者變成肥料。她設想有一種設備,讓家屬可以把死去的親人放進一種富養分的混合物中,四到六周后整具尸體包括骨頭,都會分解成土壤。在這四到六周時間里,尸體的分子變成另一種分子,真正的轉化了。
So that's one option for the future of cremation. But what about the future of cemeteries? I'm talking about conservation burial, where large swaths of land are purchased by a land trust. The graves are scattered about the property under elegant mounds, marked only by a rock or a small metal disk, or sometimes only locatable by GPS. Families can come here; they can luxuriate in nature; they can even plant a tree or a shrub. The dead then blend seamlessly in with the landscape.
這就是未來火葬的一個發展方向。那么未來的墓園又會如何呢?我要說的是保護性安葬,土地信托機構買下大片土地。墓穴都分布在這片土地里雅致的土堆下,只用一塊石頭或者小金屬片標記著,甚至有時只有GPS定位。家屬來到我們殯儀館,可以在大自然中徜徉,甚至可以種下一棵樹或一株灌木。死者之后將完美的與這里的景色融為一體。
Will changing the way we bury our dead solve climate change? No. But it will make bold moves in how we see ourselves as citizens of this planet. If we can die in a way that is more humble and self-aware, I believe that we stand a chance.
改變安葬尸體的方式能解決氣候問題么?不能。但能極大地改變人類作為地球居民對自身的看法。如果我們離世的方式能更為謙卑和有自知之明,那么我相信人類是有希望的。