Showing results for "Earth" in Death & Dying

In his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans' belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality by radical life extentionists, extropians, transhumanists, cryonicists, and mind uploaders, along with utopians who have attempted to create heaven on earth.

As you read these words, planet Earth teems with trillions of life-forms, all going about their own business: eating, reproducing, thriving.... Yet the life of almost every single organism draws nearer to certain death. On the other hand, "suicide" inside the mitochondria that live within us results in the death of millions of cells each second for our own good! Why is death such a universal companion to life on Earth? Why haven't animals evolved to break free of its shackles?

The promises of the Christian gospel are never more precious or more beautiful than in the context of death and burial. And yet current burial practices in Western society are archaic and impersonal. They fail to confront us with the reality of death, and they make it harder to process death or to grieve properly.

The Tree of Life: What Earth Depends On by Karina Laranjeira is the author’s attempt to reach out to as many individuals as possible and help them understand why it is so important to change a very old habit to keep Earth healthy. Exploring the ins and outs of the funeral business, Laranjeira brings to light the incremental damage caused by environmentally unfriendly funeral rituals. Laranjeira talks about the toxins that run underneath the soil because of the terrible malpractices of the multibillion-dollar funeral industry and its terrible impact on climate change.