I know Wiki isn't the most reliable source, but I found this page really fascinating, if not a little obvious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanatos
Thanatology is the study of death and dying. Thanatos is the personification of death.
Thanatos is the son of Night and Darkness and the twin of Sleep. Is it any wonder that we have so much of this imagery prevalent in our current death culture?
Even better, Thanatos has other siblings, including Old Age, Suffering, Doom, Deception, Blame, and Strife.
Our associations with death are deeply rooted.
And maybe this explains our habitual reaction to old age as well... when associated with suffering, doom, strife and death, why wouldn't we try to avoid at all costs?
In today's aging society, being positive about growing old with grace and dying well are new but important concepts. Given how deeply anchored the negative connotations are, we have some work to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment