What is Death: Definition and 333 Discussions

Death is the permanent, irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a previously living organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable, universal process that eventually occurs in all living organisms.
Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the similar process seen in individual components of a living organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered a living organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said to die.
As of the early 21st century, over 150,000 humans die each day.Many cultures and religions have the idea of an afterlife, and also may hold the idea of judgement of good and bad deeds in one's life (Heaven, Hell, Karma).

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  1. H

    Life After Death: Heaven, Hell or Something Else?

    What happens after Death?? Heaven? Hell? what?? Is there another life after it? IMO, this is bull****...The concepts of things like Heaven & hell are just fabricated to make death easy to accept & to prevent misdeeds & crimes... What do you ppl think of this?
  2. Y

    What is the connection between state of mind, death, and the song we sing?

    - We sing. In this there is a 2 part sum = the song. That's my postulate. Now in this song. The second part is the inspirational feeling. - Music expresses our humanity, and is our link to other singing things like birds n stuff. - Thought expresses our humanity, and is also a link to...
  3. V

    Why do people cling to the idea of an afterlife?

    It seems to me that constructing a belief that your spirit or soul will exist after you have physically died has been used to make one feel better or even help deal with the inevitable death we’re all going to face. But why should a delusion or lie help give you any more solace than accepting...
  4. Ivan Seeking

    Monkey walks upright after near death experience

    I didn't know if I should post this is S&D, Biology, or Philosophy, so, since I couldn't resist the title, here we go for fun. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5479501/
  5. A

    The Mystery of Life and Death: Exploring Where Brain Activity Goes

    A person is alive, animated, breathing, communicating, thinking, moving. There is brain activity - an energy which can monitored by a machine. Then suddenly their body is a cold lifeless shell and no brain activity can be found. In the terms of physics - what has happened? Where did that...
  6. wasteofo2

    Has natural selection destroyed your sympathy for the death of animals?

    I remember I used to be sad when I saw an animal die, especially if it were something like a domesticated cat catching a chipmunk and not even eating it. I was always aware of natrual selection, but it was never at the forefront of my mind when thinking about this, I always thought that it was...
  7. M

    Is Torture Really Worse than Death?

    I was just wondering, that in an objective sense, the only thing wrong with a tortured death is the pain and possibly embarrasment one goes through before death. These are days and weeks at the most in almost all cases. So what I don't get, is how does tortured death, for example, taped...
  8. C

    Fearing Death: A Flaw in the Human Mind?

    Why do the minds of many fear or even deny death? The mere thought of death for some people trigger panic attacks. Granted the mind's instintual reaction is to fear the unknown as a means of survival, but shouldn't the mind have already evolved to accept death? Does this mean that the true...
  9. C

    What Lies Beyond: Exploring Different Beliefs on Life After Death

    After Death... Lets get our viewpoints of what's after death... do u think its nothing, heaven, hell, etc... have u had personal experiences which strengthen your beliefs? What is after death?
  10. D

    News The Legendary Green River Killer: 48 Murders and No Death Penalty

    You probably know about this guy. http://www.talonmarks.com/news/2003/11/19/Opinion/The-Life.Of.Garyridgeway-560355.shtml confessed to killing 48 women, which is a record for serial killings. The legendary Green River Killer. 48 innocent women (most were whores though). And he...
  11. P

    Is the Death Penalty Justified as a Deterrent or Genetic Control?

    The death sentence as a punishment. Should it exist? I think it serves more like a warning to others than a punishment to the criminals - you do this, you die. The problem here is that, is it necessary? Should chance be given?
  12. B

    I have empiracle evidence for life after death.

    - I postulate. The intersection/geometry must have .5 in it's empiracle evidence. Or 1/2. It follows action is followed by reaction. Now since we want empiracle evidence. There it is. 1) Now I apply Christ to this rule. Not God. Christ. How many people are you ? 1. Christ says treat...
  13. M

    News Americans Eating Selves To Death

    My questions: 1>What should be done about this? 2>If you supported a socialized medicine plan, do you support it after reading this? 3>If you still support the socialized medicine plan, what do you suspect should be done to bring accountability to the table?
  14. Loren Booda

    What Lies Beyond Death and How Should We Prepare?

    What do you anticipate beyond death, and how are you preparing for it?
  15. S

    Why Do We Fear Death? Exploring Psychological Theories

    not really philisophical more pyscological but anyone got any theories on why we fear death? isn't it supposed to be the solution to our pain? I've got my theorieso n it but i want to hear others...
  16. jimmy p

    Is Sudden Adult Death Syndrome real?

    Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. does this not scare the crap out of you?
  17. Loren Booda

    Can evolution allieviate the fear and suffering of death?

    Will evolution, which selects traits promoting survival, ever directly allieviate the fear and suffering of death? Perhaps that latter process shall remain more in the domain of society and faith.
  18. himanshu121

    Is the Dream State Our Afterlife?

    I wonder What happens after Death. Is there any research link on the subject or any theory under pipeline
  19. T

    The Death Paradox of Time Travel

    Just suppose that Time Travel can be done. Now, suppose as you are traveling in either direction, i.e., the past or future, you were to die. What would happen? Would you die in the time from which you originally existed or in the time at which you presently exist in your travels? If so, say...
  20. C

    Killing Freud: 20th-century culture and the death of psychoanalysis

    Killing Freud: 20th-century culture and the death of psychoanalysis by Todd Dufresne Disastrous victory of a 20th-century shaman By Justin Wintle 16 December 2003 Had Freud and his celebrated "talking cure" never happened, would BT still have come up with "It's Good to Talk"? Would the...
  21. S

    Life After Death: Proof of Eternal Existence

    Let us assume temporarily that when we die we cease to exist. A nonexistent thing cannot be affected by anything. For example, it is impossible to kill a nonexistant chicken, move a nonexistant piece of matter, or eat a nonexistant pizza. We did not exist before we were borne. We were...
  22. iansmith

    Protein of life, protein of death

    http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20031209/02
  23. M

    Death brings out the irrational in us

    When someone we love dies, we tend to believe in some sort of after life, or utopia that the person transfers to. At the least, we just don't want to think about it, and assume that there is an afterlife, without any reasoning whatsoever. Has anyone here ever survived the death of a loved one...
  24. L

    Tackling the Difficult Death Problem in Physics Honors Class

    hey. i am in a physics honors class, and we just had a test. each test has 9 questions, 8 which are decent, and the last one is the "death problem" this problem is worth 20 point, double of the others (if you did the math, if you get die on the death problem, the highest score possible is...
  25. Lrdmora

    Exploring the Heat Death Theory: What is It and How Does it Work?

    I read about this once and then forgot where I read it, very simplified the theory goes like this: Intelligent beings create heat. Most items in a civilized culture create heat ie light bulbs, computers, etc. At some point a civilization will create more heat than can be dissipated and...
  26. wolram

    Exploring Possibilities of the Universe's Survival Beyond Heat Death

    i have been thinking how our universe could continue if it suffers heat death, i can think of one possibility , that is that a bose einstein condensate could form, is that a possibility? if it is then interactions between BECs could rekindle our universe
  27. Ivan Seeking

    Do we desire that the world should end with our death?

    Do we each desire that the world should end with our death? Thanks Russ for the title. I have long made note that as people grow old, they often become very negative in their expectations for the world. A friend of mine, now in his twilight years, and having been near death on several...
  28. L

    There is no life after death (and no hell)

    This issue came up in the letter to Dr Laura thread and rather than letting that thread deviate from its topic I thought I would deal with the issue here. Various scriptures in the Bible tell us that our life ends when we die. It is a complete and final end. There is no life after death. There...
  29. K

    Conceiving a Net Decrease in Entropy: Is Heat Death Avoidable?

    Yo, d00ds, my Physics book mentions the concept of Heat Death (All the energy in the universe going to an unusable form) but says that it might not be valid if the universe is bounded in certain ways Does that just mean that if the universe hits a Big Crunch, it won't experience Heat Death...
  30. A

    Does the Multiverse Theory Suggest an Afterlife Where We Continue?

    If indeed there are other universes out there, one for each and every possibility. Will there not be one that continues, where you took off?
  31. Saint

    Is hope a double-edged sword in the face of life and death?

    Generally, Life means you still have hope, Death means you are deprived of hope. Therefore, death is often a fear to most people. Is death so terrible, horrible, hopeless? How to overcome this fear with Optimism? Through religion?:frown:
  32. M

    What Lies Beyond Our Physical Lives?

    Given - Life is a state of being (specifically - not being dead) Death is a state of being (specifically - not being alive) You are alive now (I hope - else how are you reading this?) 150 years ago, you were dead (Unless you are VERY old - in which case you probably CAN'T read this anyway)...
  33. E

    What is the point to life and death?

    If the point of life is to find why, does that mean the point of death is to find x?
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