Firefighter here. I was reflecting on a fatality I attended recently. My thoughts wandered to how a body looks like it is ‘just matter’ in a way that a living thing does not, even when sleeping. Previously I assumed this observation was just something to do with traumatic death, but this person seemed to have died peacefully and the same, ‘absence’ of something was obvious.

I’m not a religious person, but it made me wonder if there actually is something that ‘leaves’ when someone dies (beyond the obvious breathing, pulse etc).

I’m not looking for a ‘my holy book says’, kind of discussion here, but rather a reflection on the direct, lived experiences of people who see death regularly.

  • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I seem to recall that animals can sense whether other animals are dead (or rotten/contaminated)?

    They smell putrefaction.

    It starts immediately when life has ended. It doesn’t wait for days, or hours, out of decency or so…

    • 200ok@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      TIL the word “purification”. Thank you!

      Edit: putrification (damn autocorrect, and it’s still underlined in red).

      Edit: putrefaction (sigh)