Firefighter here. I was reflecting on a fatality I attended recently. My thoughts wandered to how a body looks like it is ‘just matter’ in a way that a living thing does not, even when sleeping. Previously I assumed this observation was just something to do with traumatic death, but this person seemed to have died peacefully and the same, ‘absence’ of something was obvious.
I’m not a religious person, but it made me wonder if there actually is something that ‘leaves’ when someone dies (beyond the obvious breathing, pulse etc).
I’m not looking for a ‘my holy book says’, kind of discussion here, but rather a reflection on the direct, lived experiences of people who see death regularly.
I think it’s mostly for things like rabies or other contagious diseases that make people act differently. That’s mostly because frankly, I don’t get nearly as much of a reaction to an unanimated but lifelike robot/mannequin/sex doll/CGI screenshot as I do to a moving one, and I wouldn’t describe my reaction to a dead body as uncanny valley at all. That said, it was a loved one’s body and I watched them die peacefully, so that could reduce any unnerving aspects.