On Sunday, Boris and I went to the Field Museum to see a relatively new exhibit, Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery
I wanted to go to this exhibit with Boris because the subject of the exhibit is uncomfortable to many people, and I knew for sure that it won’t be uncomfortable for him, and that our views on the subject of the exhibit are similar.
Did I see what I expected to see? Yes and no. I expected a little more comparison of different cultures, rituals, and religious views. It was all present, but less than I expected. On the other hand, more emphasis was on “what do you think?”
On our way back, we talked about this exhibit, and how we think about what happens after. Although I often say “my immortal soul,” especially when somebody complains about Google intrusion into people personal correspondence:), the truth is that I do not believe that my soul will exist after I die. I believe that there will be nothing. Boris has a different opinion. He says that that’s something like what we say about God. Like when we say “God does not exist,” it actually means the he exists, because we name him. So if you think about something or somebody, they exist. And he thinks that as long as somebody remembers us and thinks about us, our souls exist. I do not think so. It would be too easy way out 🙂
And another thing we talked about was that neither I, nor he ever experience a grief caused by somebody’s death. We both know that the expectations are different, but that’s how we feel. I have a hypothesis that because in the earlier time of the human history, deaths were more often sudden, abrupt, and often occered at relatively earlier age, the sense of (sudden) grief was more pronounced. These days, it is more common that the person’s brain dies way before a person is physically dead, and more often than not, we know that somebody’s death approaches… maybe, I am entirely wrong here.
to summarize, I am glad I went, I am glad I went with Boris. I am not sure I will visit this exxibit again, but I am thinking about it.
Hettie's Reflections 