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timtyler comments on The Threat of Cryonics - Less Wrong
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Here's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embalming on the topic:
"After being dressed for visitation/funeral services, cosmetics are applied to make body appear more lifelike and to create a "memory picture" for the deceased's friends and relatives."
Here's what can happen if it is done badly:
"Family Sues Funeral Home Over Bad Corpse Condition"
On the effect on mourners:
"The funeral industry promotes embalming and viewing as a means to show "proper respect for the body," and to establish the "clear identity" of the corpse so that the reality of death cannot be denied by those who view the body. Many funeral directors are convinced that seeing the body is a necessary part of the grieving process, even if the death was long anticipated. "
None of this seems to offer direct empirical support for the hypothesis that the mental health of mourners is actually helped by viewing the corpse. Note how in the case where it is done badly, it is embarrassing and socially problematic.
Further down: "Few funeral directors will participate in the public viewing of a body without embalming and cosmetic restoration. While some people may be comforted by "a beautiful memory picture," as it's called in the trade, 32% of consumers reported that viewing was a negative experience, according to a 1990 survey."
32% of the people who view their loved one's corpse find it to be a negative experience. That does not sound to me like something optimized for helping the grieving process.
I wouldn't expect anyone to be happy about paying their last respects to a loved one's remains. It's not a walk in the woods.
The question at hand is relative, not absolute: would someone be worse off (in the long term) it their last memory of a loved one was of their mangled body, or of a version of it resembling the person in life.
The question is whether they would be worse off with cremation or simply with no ceremony... or with cryonics of course, for that matter.