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Exiled in a kilt

Death &the World

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by
kilted exile
, 11-04-2006 at 01:31 PM (1894 Views)
Have we as a world become incapable of dealing with death? Or is the media to blame?

Everyone knows that "the only certainties in Life are death and taxes" so why are we always so distraught when it happens. I can understand it if it is someone you know, and the emotion of never seeing them again gets too much. Or the sympathy felt when a tragic situation like Dunblane occurs.

However, the public outpourings of grief for public figures who die is beyond me.
I know some people reading this will have further cause to think I am cold, uncaring etc. and I wont argue that, after all it may well be that the problem is with me not with others.

The main example I am thinking of is the death of Princess Diana. The lines of people on the streets crying their eyes out and going on about "what a good person she was" and how "they knew her" was completely over the top. Also we are still forced to read about it being the such and such anniversary of her death. I shed no tears for her, why should I? I dont cry everytime I hear someone was killed in a car crash, she was no more (or less) than everyone else.

People need to move on with their lives. I am not saying to forget people who are dead, but I do believe that the way death is handled is positively unhealthy.
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  1. 's Avatar
    It seems to me that many people transfer their caring emotions to famous people....movie stars...singers. Could it be because we respect beauty, money, and intelligence in that order? When these people die a great sense of loss happens because of the emotion we invest in these people. We live vicarious lives, making our own boring situations more interesting.
  2. 's Avatar
    Death is inevitable as birth, Can we imagine aday without death. God has made everything with a purpose. So, we should accept it and get accostomed to it always .
  3. kilted exile's Avatar
    Just a quick point in response to Dan Deist's comment. I am not concerned with religion. I shall not mention God in my posts, please do not refer to he/she/it/they in comments. Thanks
  4. Shannanigan's Avatar
    For celebrities and famous personalities, I don't know. Maybe Mike is right, or maybe we miss the qualities in someone who dies. I was saddened by the Croc Hunter's death, not because I knew him and would miss him, but because I loved his personality and was going to miss having someone like that around...now that I really think of it, it does seem a tad silly...
  5. skib's Avatar
    I agree, kilted. I feel the same way about people who were so incredibly distraught by Elvis Presley's death. He was a musician, possibly a great one (though I have no interest in his music,) and I read an article in a magazine about a woman who owned more Elvis paraphernalia than money. It made me think how unhealthy it is, for someone to be so preoccupied with the lives and deaths of celebrities. Their deaths (in my mind) should cause no more ripples than the death of the little old lady across the street. That being said, I believe we are probably a minority in our thinking. I don't think that is a problem, just a different way of thinking.