Anyone been to the Bodies Exhibition?

The reality is, that there are some cases where for whatever reason family cannot be located or contacted in the event of a sudden death of a loved one. This has happened me personally, the details of which are just too painful and at times almost unbelievble to comprehend. The very notion that my relation (or non-relation for that matter), would be used for such a purpose fills me with horror. It's all very well saying "It's a bit different from unclaimed bodies that have not been buried" - what about bodies that have lain on a hospital mortuary slab for six months (for whatever reason), is it ok to use those bodies - just because of ineptitute on the part of the service who is meant to trace family.
The notion that we are all expected to opt out of having our bodies desecrated is seriously disturbing. Are we saying that homeless people and the like, who may well be unclaimed here or abroad are somehow more deserving of this maltreatement then the rest of us who are in the priviledged position of a) being able to voice our wishes or b) have family and friends act as our trusted guardians.
Unclaimed bodies either for this type of exhibition or even for ordinary medical research/education where the wishes are UNKNOWN should never be used like this. 'Ethical purposes' and 'unkown wishes' should never appear in the one sentence.
Even in pagan times bodies were treated with the utmost repect.
But for those who don't have a religious background or theory there are firmly established guidelines.
2008 was the 60th anniversary of The UN Declaration of Human Rights - Article 1 states
Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood

ophelia said:

The notion that we are all expected to opt out of having our bodies desecrated is seriously disturbing.

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Ophelia - therein lies the difference between you and I, I dont see it as desecration at all and if my own body or the body of any member of my family was used for medical research without consent Id be perfectly fine about it.

The way I see it once Im dead Im gone, all that is left behind is a carcass - its not ME. Its a piece of dead meat. Id be thrilled to think my remains might be helpful in instructing someone in any capacity. Similiarly Id be fine if I found out that due to strange circumstances that thats what became of a relations body.

I dont have a sentimental sense about dead bodies. Im more interested in moving medicine and science forward by using what are effectively waste products (dead meat in my view) productively.

I understand this view may seem cold to you - I have no religious affiliations, I dont assign any kind of spirituality to a dead body, I dont think its disrespectful in any way to use a dead body for medical instruction - I dont see it as a person. It is the mortal remains of a person, not the person themselves.

I would interpet the human rights quote you used as applicable to the living.

I trust you carry an organ donation card then?
The phrase 'dead meat' was used twice in your response, what makes us different to animals then? why don't we cannibalise and save ourselves alot of money?
Your view is not just 'cold' truthseeker, its positively freezing.

ophelia said:

I trust you carry an organ donation card then?

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I do.

ophelia said:

The phrase 'dead meat' was used twice in your response, what makes us different to animals then?

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Nothing - humans are in fact animals - particularly from the perspective of our constituent parts. Of course humans have consciousness and culture too but studies are showing that so do some of the great apes.

ophelia said:

why don't we cannibalise and save ourselves alot of money?

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Probably because by the time a lot of people die of natural causes the meat would be tough and unappetizing. And there would also be an ethical question over breaking down the taboo of using human meat for human comsumption in case someone decided to start breeding babies for the purpose. Plus its not necessary for us to eat each other - there is plenty of food available to us. Its not quite the same thing as using an unclaimed body for medical science considering there is a shortage of donated bodies! What would you have people use instead of donated bodies? There isnt a substitute.

On the subject of cannibilism - I totally agree with the concept of eating an already dead human if there is no other option. For example, those poor sports people whose plane crashed in the Andes - better to support the living with already dead meat in my opinion.

ophelia said:

Your view is not just 'cold' truthseeker, its positively freezing.

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I object to that - just because its different to your view doesnt mean there is anything wrong with it - we just have different ideas about dead bodies. I dont have an inflated sense of sentimentality about dead human cells.

Next time I see a family grieving then at a funeral I'll just put it down to "an inflated sense of sentimentality over dead human cells" shall I?
There must be an awful lot of sentimental people in the world then.

ophelia said:

Next time I see a family grieving then at a funeral I'll just put it down to "an inflated sense of sentimentality over dead human cells" shall I?
There must be an awful lot of sentimental people in the world then.

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People grieve the loss of the PERSON - not the loss of the body itself. There is a difference. Are you suggesting that we are only our bodies?

Hi,

I was wondering if the exhibition was suitable for kids? I have 3 kids 8, 5 and 2 and wondered if it was suitable. I know the 2 year old will not understand what she is seeing but was wondering about the older boys. They love nature and are not squeamish i.e. their Dad hunts rabbits and they are not bothered when we prepare the rabbits.

I was wondering if anyone had been with their kids and would they recommend it?

Thanks,
Molly

I went to this exhibition last night and was very impressed. I took along a 13 year old who was fascinated with the bodies, particularly useful because she's dissecting a heart in biology next week and she was able to see how it functions in the body. The only criticism I will make is that it was far too packed. They are letting too many people in at the one time and this makes it very uncomfortable, you don't have a lot of time to read the text and examine the bodies before you are pushed along. The 13 yr old in particular felt under pressure and was generally pushed and shoved by adults along the way. I personally think that kids younger then 10 would be quite bored by it after the first few minutes and would have difficulty seeing into some of the higher displays. I did hear however that they are extending the run until june/july so maybe they'll stop cramming so many people in!.