A few minutes ago, a friend was telling me about how some of her non-medico friends told her they didn't wanna take up medicine because, well, they simply couldn't "handle the dead body stuff". Last week, my aunt appeared absolutely scared when I was telling her the stuff we do in the dissection hall - cutting up a cadaver's skin, then scraping out the fat, tearing out the muscles one by one, taking out the heart and intestines and holding them from every angle possible. Honestly speaking, it was interesting - nay, it was hilarious - to see the expression on my aunt's face.
Indeed, one question has been put to me perhaps much more than any other, when people ask me about the stuff we do in college - "Aren't you scared dealing with dead bodies?". The dissection videos on YouTube say, "Content Warning. This video may be inappropriate for some users." To be frank, I don't get it. Of course, cutting up a dead body isn't really a form of pleasure - it stinks, and the strong odour of formalin sears into your eyes. The slimy intestines aren't exactly impressive to hold either. But... fear? If at all you should be afraid of something, it should be a living person - he/she can punch you, kick you and er, kill you. But a dead person is well, dead! What can a cadaver do to you anyway?
I can understand why people fear death - because let's face it, it's the biggest mystery known to mankind. Nobody knows for sure what happens after death. And thus naturally, people fear the unknown - the same reason why little kids get scared when they step into a dark room: they don't know what is in the room. However, to be afraid of a harmless, actionless dead body lying quietly on a table is to me, something that defies all logic. I'm still looking for an answer; and I'm quite convinced there is none.
Indeed, one question has been put to me perhaps much more than any other, when people ask me about the stuff we do in college - "Aren't you scared dealing with dead bodies?". The dissection videos on YouTube say, "Content Warning. This video may be inappropriate for some users." To be frank, I don't get it. Of course, cutting up a dead body isn't really a form of pleasure - it stinks, and the strong odour of formalin sears into your eyes. The slimy intestines aren't exactly impressive to hold either. But... fear? If at all you should be afraid of something, it should be a living person - he/she can punch you, kick you and er, kill you. But a dead person is well, dead! What can a cadaver do to you anyway?
I can understand why people fear death - because let's face it, it's the biggest mystery known to mankind. Nobody knows for sure what happens after death. And thus naturally, people fear the unknown - the same reason why little kids get scared when they step into a dark room: they don't know what is in the room. However, to be afraid of a harmless, actionless dead body lying quietly on a table is to me, something that defies all logic. I'm still looking for an answer; and I'm quite convinced there is none.
nice post
ReplyDeleteI had some similar feeling when I saw my classmates making weird faces while dissecting cockroaches