Wikipedia portals: Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Natural sciences · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology
|
edit
DeathDeath is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers both to a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has, for millennia, been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical enquiry. Belief in some kind of afterlife or rebirth is a central aspect of many religious traditions. Within the scientific community, many suppose death to terminate mind or consciousness. The effect of physical death on any possible mind or soul remains for many an open question. Cognitive science has yet to explain fully the origin and nature of consciousness; any view about the existence or non-existence of consciousness after death remains speculative. Humans and the vast majority of other animals die in due course from senescence. Remarkable exceptions include the hydra, and the jellyfish turritopsis nutricula, which is thought to possess in effect biological immortality. Intervening phenomena which commonly bring about death earlier include malnutrition, disease, or accidents resulting in terminal physical injury. Predation is a cause of death for many species. Intentional human activity causing death includes suicide, homicide, and war. Roughly 150,000 people die each day across the globe. Death in the natural world can also occur as an indirect result of human activity: an increasing cause of species depletion in recent times has been destruction of ecosystems as a consequence of the widening spread of industrial technology.
edit
Selected article Funerary art can serve many cultural functions, although generally they are an aesthetic attempt to capture or express the beliefs or emotions about the afterlife. It can play a role in burial rites, serve as an article for use by the dead in the afterlife, and celebrate the life and accomplishments of the dead, as part of practices of ancestor veneration. Funerary art can also function as a reminder of the mortality of humankind, as an expression of cultural values and roles, and help to propitiate the spirits of the dead, preventing their unwelcome intrusion into the affairs of the living. Many cultures have psychopomp figures, such as the Greek Hermes and Etruscan Charun, who help to conduct the spirit of the dead into the afterlife.
edit
Selected picture Pride of the spirit is one of the five temptations of the dying man, according to Ars moriendi. Here, Demons tempt the dying man with crowns (a medieval allegory to earthly pride) under the disapproving gaze of Mary, Christ and God. Woodblock seven (4a) of eleven, Netherlands, circa 1460.
edit
Categories  
edit
Death anniversaries
edit
Obituaries
Wikinews
Obituaries
edit
Disasters and accidents
Wikinews Disasters
and accidents
edit
Did you know...
edit
Quote
edit
Major topics
edit
Death project
edit
Related projects
edit
Associated Wikimedia |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Wikis
Search
