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Asked by samueleason to Christine, Edd, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 21 Jun 2011.
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Zara Gladman answered on 21 Jun 2011:
Hi samueleason!
I guess this ties in to the question about whether there is a God or not. So my answer is the same – I really don’t know! :-O
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Edward Codling answered on 21 Jun 2011:
From an ecologist’s point of view, the answer is definitely YES! When an animal dies its body is immediately added to the available ‘nutrients’ in an ecosystem – other animals will eat it, while bacteria and fungi will start to break the body down. Plants use the nutrients to grow and develop. It is all one big cycle where the nutrients get recycled back into other living things.
http://scienceray.com/biology/ecology/nutrient-cycling-in-maintaining-ecosystem-functioning/I don’t know if once our body dies our mind continues – I’d like to think so as I wouldn’t like to just disappear completely. Perhaps in the future we could ‘download’ our minds onto a computer system and live forever in a virtual form?
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Christine Switzer answered on 21 Jun 2011:
I agree with Zara on this one as well. I don’t know. It would be nice if there is, but I hope it will be a long wait to find out!
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Jessica Chu answered on 21 Jun 2011:
I don’t know either.. it will be nice to think there is but I personally think there is not much afterwards. But who knows!
Comments
Christine commented on :
@Edd, I’ve never made that sort of ecological-theological connection, but that’s a really good perspective.
Slightly morbid, but have any of you seen any of the press about Resomation? http://www.resomation.com/ It’s an alternative to burial/cremation that is supposed to have much less env impact. One of my colleagues worked with them on the environmental testing.
Edd commented on :
It is a nice perspective to take if you are not religious – I remember reading somewhere about the carbon atoms that make up your body – they have probably been around in lots of animals previously – many of which are now long extinct…
We are literally made up of all the life that came before us…
Jess commented on :
I think in the Lion King – they mentioned this too 😛
Zara commented on :
haha! gotta love Mufasa and his pearls of wisdom