Why do we value the bodies of the dead?

[Macoleco]

Why do you believe humans spend so much time and energy giving bodies a proper burial? Through history many cultures have decorated the bodies of the dead, have made rituals for the dead, etc. Even creating a whole mythology (eh, religion) around it. And most people feel deeply insulted if the body of a family member or friend is mistreated, even though the "person" is not really there anymore, just flesh and bone.

Why do the bodies of the dead have value in your opinion? I think this is related to the human nature, and it is an example of the value that we give to the flesh, such as blood relationships, sex, etc. How something physical has a emotional value to us.

[Silver]

If I remember correctly, through some christian denomination one's soul does not leave the body until the rapture or end of times. Or maybe I have it backwards that the soul shall be returned to the body.

It's hard to keep all the silly christian fairy tales straight sometimes.

[no one]

Humans are social creatures. Had they not been, they'd be extinct. Emotional bonds are created, that even the ultimate end can not sever. What is left for the living is an open agonizing wound, that even time itself, can not heal. And though may fade the present pain, the memory remains. It is that void, that is honored.

[Rev. Rye]

My guess was that it has something to do with adding the ritual to the utilitarian process of disposing a body. I know that, at least for the Ancient Greeks, it was a taboo to let a body not be buried through the story of Antigone, because it helped them get into the afterlife, which Creon really wanted to deny to Polynices, which led to Antigone getting executed.

[WinterHold]

Because we fail to get over the memory of the dead person, probably?

The value we give to the dead person in life, writes the memories of them in our heads.
It is not just the body that we treasure; even the belongings and pictures of them, anything that reminds us of them.

On the other hand, if we hate them and have lesser value for them, we don't treat their bodies and belongings with such respect.

It's all about the memory. It's very very hard to get over the memory of a loved one.

[vulcanlogician]

Our tendency to value dead bodies may or may not be separable from religious thinking. Neanderthals buried their dead 50,000 years ago. This might suggest some sort of primitive animism... or it may be something more related to instinct.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news...ls-graves/

[Amarok]

Why do you believe humans spend so much time and energy giving bodies a proper burial? Through history many cultures have decorated the bodies of the dead, have made rituals for the dead, etc. Even creating a whole mythology (eh, religion) around it. And most people feel deeply insulted if the body of a family member or friend is mistreated, even though the "person" is not really there anymore, just flesh and bone.

Why do the bodies of the dead have value in your opinion? I think this is related to the human nature, and it is an example of the value that we give to the flesh, such as blood relationships, sex, etc. How something physical has a emotional value to us.

Likely due to our attachment to the former person

[arewethereyet]

I spent entirely too much time being paraded through the funeral home to pay respects to people I didn't even know. It was a thing in a small Catholic town. As a sixth grader (in Catholic school) our music class consisted of being taught funeral dirges and being marched to the Basilica to sing at funeral masses for anyone whose family wanted the children's choir. UGH...death, death, and more death.

I was pretty young when I decided on cremation and to hell with all the other BS I had grown up with.

Now, I plan to leave my body to a body farm for forensic research. No muss, no fuss for the family. And I remember my mother saying she didn't want people walking by her in a casket talking about how good she looked...fair point.


The ceremonies and rituals are said to be a comfort for the living. After having to have a private viewing of my first husband I decided that the whole thing is barbaric. Other than disposing of the body on such a way that isn't a biohazard I can't think of any reason to go to the lengths that are so widely accepted and expected. It's ghoulish. IMO

[Brian37]

It is superfluous in reality. But it is also at the same time evolutionary. Humans evolved to be social and part of that is evolving with empathy which helps us bond with others. Fight and flight also drive us as individuals to avoid death, so coming close to death scares us as individuals, so when we see others die in reality it reminds us of our own mortality. Rituals such as burials are a coping mechanism psychologically.

[Minimalist]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.