The American ways of Death

Just imagine for a second, that you became badly ill. You rush to the doctor, and he tells you that you have a deathly diseases and there is no cure. Do you A.) accept your faith, and wait until you go to sleep? or do you B,) Ask the doctor to perform Cryonics? Don't think about that everyday? Yeah me ether, until I heard the intelligent, truthful words of Dr. George E. Dickinson.

Dr. George E.Dickinson is a professor at the College of Charleston. He introduced to the class the topic of "The American Way of Death". He begin with an overview of the history of death and bereavement in America. The first era beginning in 1600-1830. "A lot of death, a women had 7 children, 5 would die. They accepted it." says Dr. Dickison, and names this era "living with death".

As he push through the era's of death and bereavement in America, all the way to the present, he explains why people in modern times are living much longer. The answer is the advancement of modern day medicine. "It is miraculous what modern medicine can do" says Dr.Dickinson. Just in the 1900's people were dying form pneumonia and tuberculosis. Now, people are dying from chronic illnesses.

Dr. George E. Dickincon

Later during the talk, Dr. Dickinson brings up the practice of Cryonics. In this death denying society, that we live in, Cryonics is the most act of denial.Cryonics, is the idea that someone who has developed a deathly illness, you can be frozen until a cure is found, then they will be unfrozen, and treated for their illness. Dr. Dickinson says that "we skirt around the issue". Instead of even saying death, we often use Euphemisms like "Sally kicked the bucket". These are small, but there are still acts of denial.


By the end of. the hour, Dr.Dickinson had introduced a different view of America to me. Death in any society is a somber topic, However, the sociology behind the topic is very interesting. Dr. Dickinson made a lot of interesting points, and explained a lot of different things that the average person would not even think of. Thank you Dr. Dickinson.