Warning: some gruesome speculation follows. You might want to skip this post. . . . A recurring element in some SF stories, particularly those on a ship traveling for a long time or on a colony with limited resources, is the ultimate in recycling: the dead are composted right along with other biological remains, so as to recycle all those essential organics. This makes perfect, rational sense. It also has disturbing echoes of the Donner Party. Today I find myself wondering how long it would take for a culture to adapt to this sort of idea. Would it take generations? Years? Months? Or could it happen in the course of a single mission? Could a team -- scientists and engineers and astronauts all, very rational individuals -- incorporate this as part of the mission plan all along? And to add just a little more to the gruesome speculation: what if its only PART of a body? (Why, yes, I DO have the Wikipedia tab on amputation open in my browser right now.) I know what they SHOULD do with that severed leg; but would they?
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 17:24:36 +0000
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