There is a certain amount of cowardice that is indistinguishable from madness.
— Xenocrates
Suicide, from a concatenation of the Latin words sui (self) and caedere (to kill) is perhaps the most tragic form of death known to man, largely because it’s performed by one’s own hands. When someone takes their own life, there are powerful psychological processes at play as it involves denying our natural instinct to survive. So how could anyone override that instinct?
The fear of death is worse than death itself.
— Xenocrates
Most people will tell you that the worst way to die is by fire. This is far from the truth. Death by fire may be the most excruciatingly painful way to go out. However, burning to death is relatively quick, is not quite as frightening nor does it incur as much suffering as the top three covered in this post. Some of these will surprise you. This because while most of us have felt first hand what death by fire might be like (how many of us have held our hand over a flame?) the top three worst ways to die require long exposure and very extraordinary circumstances.
WARNING: This post covers some relatively dark content. Additionally, some readers may find some of the photos featured to be quite graphic. Reader discretion is thus strongly advised.
An enemy committed to die can prove to be the most formidable foe.
— Xenocrates
There’s no question that humans are at the top of the food chain. It doesn’t mean however that we can’t be taken out by something far lower on the chain than we are. I speak with reference to wild animals. There are animals in every layer of the biosphere that can take us out. Some of them however are far more efficient at that than others. In fact, consider these:
WARNING: This post covers some relatively dark content. Additionally, some readers may find some of the photos featured to be quite graphic. Reader discretion is thus strongly advised.
Mortality is the single most elegant design element in the miracle of life.
— Xenocrates
I contemplate death a lot. The subject fascinates me simply because it is beyond the realm of human appreciation. So why contemplate it? Because I know that one day, every thought that I have not written down somewhere will be utterly lost. The absolute tragedy in Japan really brought this home to me. In this post, I contemplate the intriguing inevitability of death.
WARNING: This post covers some relatively dark content. Additionally, some readers may find some of the photos featured to be quite graphic. Reader discretion is thus strongly advised.
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